Whispers of a War
by Demented-Demon
Summary: PostMMZ2not MMZ3.The war between The Resistance and Neo Arcadia rages on, but when a third organization enters the fray, the war will reach its final outcome. Chapter 16: Race to the Final Weapon!
1. End of Elpizo

Author: Hello, fellow MMZ fans and fanfic readers! You already read my name, so I don't need an introduction for myself. I have taken it upon myself to write a fan fiction based on events after MMZ2. However, this is _not _MMZ3. That story is entirely different, but there will be some ties. I have re-done the opening chapter because it's the most important of this entire fic. By the time this is read, MMZ3 will already be out in English. Consider this as an alternate plot after MMZ2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Capcom, nor any characters in the Mega Man Zero series. Any characters I make are mine alone.

Spoiler: I don't know if anyone beat MMZ2 yet, (If you haven't then please do so) but this kicks off right after the final battle for MMZ2 (duh). This time, I included my own take on the final battle in this chapter to make things interesting.

_The End of Elpizo_

Zero dashed towards the door. Time was running out for him, and the entire world, even. Elpizo had the two Baby Elves in his possession, and he was only a step away from unleashing the Dark Elf. Zero had fought through the Neo Arcadia and chased Elpizo. Now there were no enemies left to stop Zero, so now only one person was left, and that was Elpizo himself.

The doors slid open, but it was a dead end. Zero stepped into the room and looked up. There seemed to be an orifice in the ceiling. _I'll bet that opening leads to Elpizo._ He crouched and clenched his fists, then he sprang up and jumped high in the air. He had the Cyber-elf Kelon to thank for the ability to jump higher than ever before.

He went above and beyond the orifice and landed on the ground. When he looked up, he was standing in the same room where the Dark Elf had been sealed and where Elpizo was. Zero cursed under his breath, but Elpizo just laughed.

"Well, Zero. You're just in time to witness me obtain the ultimate power!" Elpizo was a reploid dressed in a purple coat, but he also had a helmet that covered one side of his face. His blond hair was done, but a long bang fell on the side opposite of his eye.

"No! I won't let you!" Zero dashed towards Elpizo to stop him.

Elpizo shot a net to trap Zero. "Ha! You won't get to do so! Now, I will destroy X, and unleash the Dark Elf!"

He held his beam-rapier in his hand and then thrust the entire saber through X's body, which sealed the Dark Elf. It pelted through X's body as easily as tissue paper, and pieces of X's body began to fall apart. Then an explosion started. After that, more explosions came until it blinded the entire room in a white light. Zero watched in horror as his best friend's original body was destroyed.

A large elf of some sort flapped its large wings above Elpizo's head. The Baby Elves flew around their mother and she took them under her wing. Her wings disappeared and she flew into Elpizo's body. Elpizo was enveloped in a purple aura, and his body was expanding from the power surging through his body.

Elpizo groaned in pain and at the same time of pleasure. His clothes melded into white armor. His face grew white but his eyes grew dark. His beam rapier grew significantly by a few feet in length. The evil power emitted from Elpizo. Even Zero felt this horrible power. The net disappeared.

"Well, Zero? Are you prepared to die? I'm going to destroy you, and then all humans, and then I'll become a hero! I'll exterminate them all to make way for a world only for us reploids! And Ms. Ciel!"

"No. A world with only reploids is a fantasy. It will never happen. It _can't _happen."

"You say it is only a fantasy? Well then, let me show you what I will do with this new POWER!" Elpizo extended his beam rapier and released more dark aura from his body.

Zero activated his Z-saber and stood in a defensive position. A drop of sweat trickled down his cheek. _This is it._

Elpizo dashed towards Zero with a rush of speed. Elpizo thrust his rapier several times in a blur of fast motion. Zero narrowly avoided all of the thrusts, then with his own attack, he swung vertically with his Z-saber above Elpizo's head. Even with strong force in Zero's slash, Elpizo effortlessly blocked Zero's swing with his rapier in one motion. Before Zero could react, Elpizo swiftly kicked Zero in the stomach, sending him reeling into a wall.

Shortly after that attack, Elpizo dashed with another series of rapier-thrusts. Before the attack reached Zero, he jumped up and avoided the entire attack. When he landed, Zero drew his Z-buster and shot Elpizo several times. Elpizo deflected them away with his rapier perfectly, and then he opened up a dark hole in front of him. His Distortion Aura blocked the shots, and a Pantheon Hunter came out and tried to shoot Zero.

Zero took out his Shield Boomerang and reflected the shots back and the Hunter. It was destroyed, and Zero looked around for Elpizo. Then when Zero looked up, Elpizo came falling from the air attacking with rapier-thrusts from above. Zero tried to roll out of the way, but the rapier skinned him on the ankle before he got out of the way.

Elpizo landed feet-first on the ground and threw his rapier at Zero. He ducked, but the rapier skinned him again over the shoulder. The planted itself in the ground and the room shook. Debris came flying in all directions and Zero dodged each one that passed him. While he was doing this, Zero had been charging his saber. Elpizo was distracted by this because he was concentrating his energy in that attack. Zero dashed towards Elpizo and struck him with a charged saber strike. The attack knocked Elpizo back.

With a hand gesture, Elpizo called back his rapier. It landed perfectly in his hand. He leaped up high in the air and threw a purple aura ring around Zero. Elpizo's Dark Drain sucked Zero's life away and healed Elpizo's wound. Zero collapsed on one knee, languid from the attack. Elpizo dashed towards Zero again and thirsted once with strong force. Zero tried to move away, but he was too slow and the rapier penetrated through Zero's armor and when all the way through the other side of his breast (Or pec). Elpizo smiled dementedly and forced it in farther.

Zero cried out in pain, but he had a charged buster-shot ready to go. He fired in point-blank range in Elpizo's face. It caused him to stagger back and pull his rapier out. Blood gushed out of the wound and Zero stared to lose vision. He used a Sub-Tank and restored a large chunk of vitality he lost from the attack, but the wound was still there. He slowly got up charged his Z-saber again. Elpizo finally recovered from the attack and threw another Dark Drain at Zero. He anticipated this maneuver and dash-jumped over the attack With his Z-saber in hand, he struck Elpizo with a charged attack in his face.

Elpizo covered his face with his hands. Zero was far from done. The wound on his shoulder was nagging him with pain, but he continued to attack. He knew this was a fight to the death, so he finally decided not to hold back. Zero stabbed Elpizo in the stomach with his Z-saber. Elpizo yelled in pain with a shrieking, unbearable cry. Zero forced it in farther and then pulled it out in a horizontal swing. The saber cut through Elpizo's armor and flesh. Blood spewed onto the floor.

Elpizo raised both arms in the air and cried out, "Is this the power of the Dark Elf? I need more! MORE!"

Now the aura around his body nearly burst out of his body. He was enveloped in a dark flash of light and hideously transformed. The vicissitudes of his transformation showed. His size had increased tenfold, and he had four spikes out of his body. Two creatures were floating around him, and he shrieked loudly. His blue armor and new body were too much for him. He lost whatever control he had over the Dark Elf now. He lost himself in this dark, evil power.

Zero charged up his Z-saber again. Elpizo's head was higher above the ground, so he had to jump in order to hit it. He dash-jumped towards Elpizo's head and struck it with his charged attack. Elpizo took damage, but he didn't flinch. Instead, he shot four golden orbs at Zero. They exploded on contact and blew Zero into the corner of the room. Zero already took heavy damage from that attack. If that weren't enough, Elpizo sent the two Baby Elves that flew around him to ram into Zero. They sped over to Zero and rammed him into the wall, creating a large dent.

Zero had taken too much damage. His armor was shattered and broken. Some of his muscles were numb or they had hurt, and he could barely stand up. He did anyways, but now he had no chance of winning. His condition was beyond injured, and Elpizo was creating a large green ball, ready to be thrown at Zero. He closed his eyes and said to himself, "I'm done for." Suddenly, a bright blue light shimmered in the sky and blinded Elpizo. It was X.

"Zero! We have to merge!" X said.

"What? If you merge with me, you'll be erased because you're in Cyber-elf form!" Zero didn't want to destroy his friend with himself.

"There is a small time frame between the process that I can enter and escape from."

"How long does it last?"

"Ten seconds."

Zero didn't want to risk it, but he realized X was willing to give up everything to protect the world. He respected that, so he agreed.

"All right."

X flew into Zero. His body flew like light. It wasn't kept together anymore, but Zero felt he was split apart, but he felt free. He liked the warm feeling. His body was enveloped in a bright blue light.

The codes that X and Zero were built on were related. When Dr. Light created X, he created him for the sake of good and justice. When Dr. Wily created Zero, he was for the sake of destruction and power. Even though they were drastically different in structure, they were like two pieces of a puzzle. When they form together, they create the ultimate reploid. X was light, Zero was dark. The combination of the two had the power to rival the Dark Elf. Unfortunately like the Dark Elf, it was also hard to control. The time frame of control was only ten seconds before X would completely disappear.

Zero's body changed. His armor was now azure, and the irises of his eyes were red. He had an arm cannon equipped on his right arm, and he held his saber with his left. Together, they were the reploid named Xero. The ultimate reploid of destruction and recreation. The alpha and omega.

Xero placed the hilt of the Z-saber into the barrel of the arm cannon. Then he started to charge up both weapons. With careful aim, he eyeballed the distance between him and Elpizo's head. Already five seconds had past.

Five. The weapon charged up.

Four. Elpizo charged his attack.

Three. Xero's cannon reached maximum power.

Two. Elpizo released his attack.

One. Xero released his.

"Z-saber Buster Shot!"

The two separated in a bright light and instantly Zero was himself and X was a Cyber-elf again. The attack that they both launched was a spear-like shot that was streaking across the room and headed for Elpizo's head. The ball was about to collide with the attack, but the attack just passed through the ball and hit Elpizo's head. The shot went through his head and his body. Elpizo's body began to fall to the ground and it exploded in a large explosion.

Elpizo was on the ground in his regular body, beaten. "Zero...I'm so sorry. I was about to do something that could not be forgiven."

The Dark Elf circled around Elpizo and sprinkled some sparkling dust on him. Elpizo started to fade in a bright light and was turned into a Cyber-elf. "She is not evil..." Elpizo flew away. The Dark Elf was about to spread its wings and fly away also, but she looked at Zero. He felt like he knew her. After a few seconds, she finally flew away.

"Dark...Elf...." Zero said.

He had just defeated Elpizo, who had harnessed the power of the Dark Elf. X hovered near Zero. He told Zero that the Dark Elf wasn't always known by that name, but someone had put a curse on her. Zero turned to X. "Who was she befor..." Zero stopped.

X was already gone. Zero thought for a moment. _Who was the Dark Elf, and why do I feel as if I've known her before?._ He then was about to use the portable trans server until he heard something.

"Who's there?" Zero shouted out. _Damn...if it's an enemy then I'm screwed...I'm in no condition to fight._ Zero activated his Z-saber. His armor was shattered and his energy was low. The fight against Elpizo had worn him out. Zero then saw something move again, in the shadows. _I don't like it, but I have to get back to the base._ Zero said "Operator, transport me back."

"OK, transporting..." said the operator through Zero's headset. Zero disappeared in the bright flash of light.

"Damn, why did you stop me?" a voice came from the shadows.

Another voice shouted, "Our mission was only to observe the awakening of the Dark Elf, and to observe our target. Come, let's head back to base, General Omega will want to hear our report."

"It's too boring..." the female voice snapped back.

Author: Whew. Re-done and renewed! I hope this intro is better. Read and review!


	2. Foreshadow in the Sky: Part 1

Author: Well, now that I have gotten the hang of this fanfic thing, it's time for the actual first chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from MMZ2. All rights belong to Capcom. However, any characters I create our owned by me.

_Foreshadow in the Sky_

A bright beam of light flashed inside the Resistance Base in the operating room. The light diminished and Zero had taken its place. After a long, hard battle, Zero had finally returned to where he belonged.

"Zero!" a young female voice cried. It was Ciel, the young lady who had been Zero's supporter and had also been the one trying to solve the energy problem. Now, her concern was Zero. "Zero! Are you alright? What happened to Elpizo? Can you walk?" She had bombarded Zero with so many questions. Zero could have easily fainted.

Thankfully, Cerveau came running towards Zero. "Zero! Let me repair you!" he said not even letting Zero respond.

After a few hours, Zero had been fully repaired and was as good as new. Ciel had been next to him through the entire process. As soon as Zero stood up, he looked at his armor and examined all of his weapons.

"Thanks, Cerveau." he said.

"Not a problem at all Zero, and thank you for helping us." Cerveau said equally grateful.

Realizing now that Zero was repaired, she now wanted to know. "Zero…what happened to Elpizo?" She asked with a gentle voice now, lacking the energy and concern she had had before.

"…" Zero started. "…The Dark Elf turned him into a cyber elf. It looks like the Dark Elf wasn't always evil." X had told him someone named Dr. Weil put a curse on her. He wanted to know who he was.

Ciel seemed somewhat relieved that Zero didn't have to retire Elpizo to stop him. Her ways of solving things never included violence. "Well, I'm glad you are back Zero, I…we have all worried about you." Her face turned a bright pink when she said that.

Zero hadn't noticed this, but Cerveau laughed. "Zero, I have something for you!" he boomed with a proud voice.

"Hmm?" Zero asked.

"It's a new device I call 'The Form Extractor!' It's a marvelous invention, Zero." Cerveau said, and held out a belt.

"You see, since you have many different forms, this device helps you adept to battle much quicker." Zero already seemed interested. Cerveau continued, "To use this, you set three initial forms of your choice, although your original form will be the default form. The three forms you set will be indicated on these buttons here." He pointed to the three white buttons. "They will be colored according to what form you pick. And all you have to do is press the button in battle and you will quickly change forms. No delay time at all!" he said triumphantly.

Zero put the belt on and picked three random forms: X form, Active form, and Power form. The buttons changed color according to what form color it was. Zero pressed on the blue button first. After a split-second he changed into his X form.

"Whoa!" He said in amazement. "That's incredible!"

Then he tried pressing the orange button. In no time at all, he quickly changed into Active form. Then he pressed the purple button. He changed into Power form. Zero had an expression of a child on Christmas Morning.

Cerveau shook his head. "No, no no! Not good at all! I need to make some more adjustments." He said, his proud voice long gone. Zero looked at the belt and then handed it to Cerveau. "I'll tell you when I'm done. In the mean time, get some rest." Cerveau said.

"Great idea! Zero, I'll show you to your room!" Ciel beamed and walked Zero to his room.

**Change of scene**

In the Neo Arcadia, the three generals sulked in their room of operations. Bored, and at the same time mad that Zero had beaten them once again. The hotheaded crimson reploid slammed his fist onto a table and shouted, "Damn him! He beat me again! Why can't I win?" He was Fefnir. Zero had beaten him before a couple of times.

"Maybe it is because you are too ignorant to keep up with him," a female reploid's voice said. Leviathan was the second general in the Neo Arcadia. Zero too, had beaten her before. She loved every minute fighting him. Win or lose.

Fefnir didn't want to admit that he had fun losing, but he did actually. Harpuia, the third general, was not in the Neo Arcadia. He was out flying, partially to patrol, and partially to clear his head.

At the top of the Neo Arcadia, where Zero and Elpizo fought, he didn't find any of them. Instead, he found parts of X's body. Harpuia thought they belonged to the Copy X, whom he claimed to be the real one, but the Copy's parts were in the chamber being repaired. This confused him. _Why would his parts be there…? Did he have another body? Or perhaps…_He was utterly confused. Just then, he saw something a few miles away from him. It would seem to be a big ship, or a colony.

"What's this?" he asked himself aloud. He flew over to the sky colony, and it seemed humongous upfront. Oddly enough, there was no security or anyone checking him to come in. There was just an empty dock. He walked in gingerly, although his body hadn't fully recovered after his recent fight with Zero. Even the city inside the colony seemed empty.

"What in the world is going on?" he asked himself aloud.

"Nothing at all." a voice came from behind Harpuia. Before he could even turn around, a powerful splash of Ice elemental energy hit his back. Harpuia fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Time to take out the trash." the voice said.

The alarm went off at the Resistance Base.

Zero quickly dashed to the Operation Room. "What's the emergency?" he asked.

Ciel had also arrived in the Operation Room.

One of the operators said, "A massive object is heading our way, from the sky!"

"What?" Zero asked. "Is it another ship with a bomb?" He could recall the last time an attack came from the sky.

"No, it would seem to be larger than a ship. Much larger." the operator said in concern. The second operator said in shock, "Zero…I have the coordinates. But…how?"

"It must be a trap. Whoever is in that thing must want Zero to come over there." Ciel said.

"It doesn't matter, I have to stop it." Zero said. Ciel knew she couldn't stop Zero. "Operator, trans me now!" Zero bellowed. The operator quickly teleported Zero to the coordinates.

"Zero…please be careful…" Ciel pleaded.

Author: Not so bad for part 1. I'll have the next chapter coming up soon, so review and be patient! I don't care if you criticize, as long as you read it. Lend me some hints of you got some.


	3. Foreshadow in the Sky: Part 2

Author: Time for another exciting chapter of _Whispers of a War! _Man I have got some time on my hands and I am using it well. The story continues!

Disclaimer: I do not own the MMZ series. Those rights belong to Capcom. Any characters that I create are my own.

_Foreshadow in the Sky: Part 2_

The bright light that surrounded Zero diminished. He found himself inside the sky colony. To examine the area he was on, he quickly glanced around. The legendary maverick hunter seemed to be on a highway, suspended miles high above the ground. An odd feeling caught Zero's nerves.

_Have I been here before? He remembered something a while back. Perhaps back when he was still a maverick hunter. He had been given a mission similar to this. Confused, he rubbed his head with his left hand. Something attacked him on that mission a while back._

On cue, a large green mechanloid with wings swung its right claw towards Zero at a fast speed. Although he was surprised, Zero could easily read the angle of the mechanloid's eyes, since they were big. Without a movement's waste, he rolled out of the way a few feet from the claw as it pounded the ground. Then, Zero quickly jumped over the claw and ran north, following a sign above him that had read "Control Room: 5 miles ahead."

The monstrous mechanloid continued its assault on Zero and flew after him, dragging its claw along the highway. Zero could not run fast enough to make it to the control room before the reploid blocked Zero's path with its left claw. Now he was surrounded. With nothing else to do, he closed his eyes and stood still. Noticing this, the mechanloid attempted to smash Zero with its claws by clapping them together.

Right before the claws could hit, an orange blur jumped out of the reach. The blur was none other than Zero, now in his Active form. His speed had increased dramatically, and he smirked right before taking off to the control room. Zero had realized that mechanloid was a maverick. It was an instinctive feeling that convinced him. The maverick could not fly fast enough to catch up with Zero. He disappeared into the door to the control room.

"Alright, I am finally in." Zero said to himself. A large machine was sitting right in front of him, and the screen read, "Sky Lagoon II crash site: Resistance Base" Zero was shocked by what he read. He made a brash dash to shut off the switch, but a fireball hit him. Quickly recovering from the attack, he got back up on his feet and saw another maverick.

"Surprise, surprise Zero. It has been ages since we have last met. More than a century even!" the maverick bellowed.

His head was the shape of a dragon's, and his left shoulder had three short claws sticking out. However, his right arm was significantly bigger than his left. The fist was larger than the maverick's head. The maverick's right eye was replaced with a yellow scope, it would seem. Its chest was red and so was his left shoulder and arm, but his right shoulder and arm was a metallic blue. The legs were also a metallic blue, and were also wide and long. Zero activated his Z-saber and stood in a defensive position.

"Don't tell me you don't recognize your old friend?" The maverick said. "Not even a 'Hello Magma Dragoon'? So impolite."

Zero's eyes grew wide. "You…you're…"

It had been indeed Magma Dragoon from long ago. He was the one who crashed the first Sky Lagoon onto the city of innocent people. Dragoon was amused with Zero's expression, and then he looked at himself.

"Oh, well I suppose my new makeover might have thrown you off. Then I am Cyber Dragoon. Yes, that seems to fit quite nicely." he said proudly.

_How is he still alive? I retired him a long time ago… Zero thought._

Zero shook off the surprised expression and said, "Dragoon, stop the Sky Lagoon from crashing. You don't want to hurt more reploids!"

Dragoon laughed. "Well…I do. And you are not going to stop me. Unlike last time, Zero, I will beat you. Retire you, even."

With that, Dragoon quickly leaped towards Zero. In his Active form, Zero easily dashed under Dragoon during his jump and closed his eyes before Dragoon landed on the ground. Now Zero changed into his Rise form. When he opened his eyes, Dragoon threw a strong right hook at Zero's face. Even Zero couldn't believe how fast that was.

The punch had knocked Zero back. While Zero was still on the ground, Dragoon jumped high in the air and shot a fireball at Zero. Zero heard the shot, and he rolled out of the way. But he rolled right into a kick by Dragoon, which sent Zero flying into the air. A second later, Dragoon appeared next to Zero and elbowed him back down to the ground. Like a tomato thrown down on the ground, Zero hit the ground harder. He hardly could keep up with Dragoon, and he was receiving damage quick.

"Have the times caught up with you, Zero? You are so disappointing." Dragoon pushed the switch farther up, activating a timer.

"10 seconds to coordinates lock." the computer spoke.

As it had counted down, Zero got up slowly. While he was on the ground, he changed into X form. He also had a fully charged shot ready. With flawless aim, he shot a charged Laser Shot at Dragoon. Dragoon tried to react to it, but it had caught him by surprise and shot straight through his right shoulder. It continued and hit the switch, stopping the timer.

"What! No!" Dragoon yelled. He ran towards the switch to reactivate it, by Zero threw the shield boomerang he had charged up. It glided past Dragoon's legs, giving one leg a cut. It hit the machine and caused it to input random coordinates.

"Emergency crash system activated. Crash site: XX" the computer spoke. Dragoon turned around.

"You fool, you will regret this!" he yelled.

Zero smirked.

Dragoon shot a large fireball out of his finger and it hit Zero. A layer of his armor was melted instantly. Zero was also paralyzed, due to the electric shock in the fireball.

"Another time, Zero." Dragoon briefly said as he shot a hole through the roof and flew off. The entire colony shook violently, and the alarm blared loudly.

"60 seconds until crash." the computer spoke. The portable trans server was disabled and fried out. Zero couldn't move. And the colony was on its collision course to the ground. How could he survive? "5...4...3...2...1..." Boom.

Author: Whew. Got a project due, and school isn't taking it easy. But I still have some extra time! Read and review please! Don't worry, the next chapter will be coming up soon!


	4. The New Revolution

Author: Well, in light of new discoveries, I have found out some people have seen MMZ3. Gasp! Plus, I've noticed my chapters are quite small. So now they'll be super-sized! And I'll speed up the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from MMZ or Capcom. Those rights belong to Capcom. Any characters I create are my own.

_The New Revolution_

"5...4...3...2...1..." Boom. The engines on the side of the room exploded. The explosion radius threw Zero into the wall and he fell into a vehicle. "2...3...4...5..." The computer started up again.

It was obvious the computer must have malfunctioned when the boomerang hit it. Zero had no idea when the Sky Lagoon II was going to crash. His right arm was able to move again, so Zero took the chance to escape. He drew out his Z-buster and charged it. Then he shot a blast at the wall. Surely enough, the large hole was starting to suck everything in it, since the Lagoon was falling. With one arm, Zero held on tight as his vehicle was sucked into the hole and out of the Lagoon. He had no idea how to start the thing up.

Now that he was in the air, Zero was safe. Well, if you would call spinning violently in the air safe. The vehicle spun farther and farther away from the Lagoon, but both were going to hit the ground sometime. Zero couldn't see while spinning, so he tried his hardest to activate the vehicle.

"Come on you stupid piece of junk!" He yelled and slammed his right fist on the wheel. By a stroke of luck, the vehicle activated and balanced upright in mid-air just before landing roughly on the ground. The vehicle sped forward and the Lagoon, now far behind him, crashed somewhere. The blast radius was strong enough to start shaking the vehicle, but he was too far away to get hit. Now his left arm was starting to move again.

"That was too close…" he said. Zero could now see the Resistance Base straight ahead.

**Change of scene**

"Zero…where are you?" Ciel was worried. Very worried. Zero would usually return to base by now after finishing a mission. But this time, he didn't return. She waited outside of the base with the guards. "Oh Zero…" she said softly.

Ciel could have burst into tears if one of the guards hadn't yelled, "I see something coming! Fast!" It would seem that a vehicle of some sort was making its way to the base. "Okay guards, hold your positions! Get ready for an enemy attack!"

Ciel yelled, "No don't fire! It's Zero!" It indeed had been Zero, driving to the base. Soon the guards noticed as well. Ciel started to run towards Zero, but he wouldn't stop the vehicle.

"How do you stop this thing?" he yelled. Quickly, he turned out of the way of Ciel and hit one of the gate walls. An airbag came out of the wheel. "Zero!" Ciel ran towards Zero to make sure he was okay.

A few hours later, Zero was already repaired and good as new. Ciel and Zero were both in the repair room. "Zero, what happened on the mission?" Ciel asked. Zero couldn't really describe what happened. All he knew was he met Dragoon before. He didn't remember how…he just remembered why. Maybe it was because he was a maverick.

Now some other memories started to come back to him. He remembered being a maverick hunter. He served with X. Zero was in deep thought, but he didn't noticed Ciel staring at him with a concerned look.

"Zero?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh…well, the Sky Lagoon won't be crashing here…" he said.

"Sky Lagoon? What's that?" Ciel asked.

"It's…uh…I can't remember…" Zero's mind struggled to remember more about his past. He clutched his head with his hands. "Why can't I remember?" Zero asked himself aloud.

Ciel put both of her hands on Zero's and gently pulled them down. "Don't worry, Zero. In time, I'm sure you will remember everything. I'll do my best to help you!" she said.

Zero was flattered by what Ciel said, but he was paying more attention to Ciel's eyes. They were natural sized, but they seemed big. Big enough to be cute. Her concerned look resembled that of a little girl. The irises of her eyes were blue. Ciel started to blush when she noticed Zero staring deeply into her eyes. The thought of Ciel's eye color reminded him of something…_Iris…why does that word sound so familiar?_ He thought.

Cerveau came into the room. His smile was about two miles wide. He yelled with a triumphant voice, "Zero! I finished it! The Form Extractor is finished!"

Zero looked at Cerveau and got up right away. "Really? Are you finally done?" Zero asked eagerly.

"Men…" Ciel muttered to herself.

Cerveau didn't hear Ciel's remark, so he continued. "Why yes I did! Now it works differently." Zero noticed that the buttons were gone. Cerveau could tell Zero was looking for the buttons, so he said, "I replaced the buttons with something more sophisticated."

He threw the entire belt in a trashcan near the door and pulled out a microchip from his pocket. "This Zero is the true Form Extractor. You see, it is very obvious to be wearing a belt, so it wouldn't help for combat. Plus, the chip enables you to not only select three forms, but also all the forms you have. Not only that, the speed is 30 split seconds faster than the belt."

Zero was impressed. He knew Cerveau could make fine weapons, but he would have never thought Cerveau would make this. He really had outdone himself. Zero knew that if the chip were small, it would probably go inside his helmet.

"This is a helmet upgrade, Zero, so please take off your helmet for a moment and let me install this." Zero pulled his helmet over his head. The blonde hair on top of his head fell down on his face, while his mane stayed the same.

"Here." Zero said.

Ciel noticed what beautiful hair Zero had. She marveled at how smooth and silky and shiny it was. She wanted hair just like that.

It took Cerveau a few seconds to install it. "Done." he said.

Almost immediately after Cerveau said that, Zero took the helmet back and put it back on.

"So, how does this work?" Zero asked.

Cerveau grinned and said, "A happy thought and a little bit of…"

"No really, Cerveau. How does it work?" Zero interrupted.

"Think of a form." Cerveau said, a bit peeved that he didn't get to finished his joke.

Zero thought of the X form. Simultaneously, he transformed into the X form.

"Incredible…" Zero said.

Cerveau bowed down, as if he were accepting applause.

Ciel stood upright and asked, "Zero? Could you help me in the lab?"

It took Zero a few seconds to respond to Ciel. During that time, he switched in and out of five different forms. "Oh. Yeah, sure!" Zero said, embarrassed that Ciel was watching him "play" with his new "toy."

**Change of scene**

Inside the Neo Arcadia, Fefnir and Leviathan stopped fighting. They sat on opposite sides of their table, wondering what was taking Harpuia so long to come back.

"I wonder why it's taking him so damn long?" Fefnir asked Leviathan.

"How the hell should I know?" Leviathan snapped. Fefnir grew impatient. He stood up and stomped towards the room where he usually trains. Leviathan sat in her seat, now running her fingers through her hair.

"I'd rather fight Zero again than wait here." She sighed deeply at the thought of fighting with him again. Then she smirked at the thought of killing him.

The Neo Arcadia alarm blared.

"Emergency attack on New Califern! Emergency attack on New Califern!" it said.

New Califern had been one of the many cities Neo Arcadia had watch on. Of course, its main population was human. Fefnir ran back into the room and Leviathan stood up.

"Finally, some action!" Fefnir yelled, giddy about fighting whatever was attacking the city.

"We'd better go without Harpuia." Leviathan said. Without haste, they both went to their trans server and teleported to the city under siege.

**Change of scene**

Ciel and Zero were inside Ciel's lab, working on the energy problem. Ciel, tired and hungry, decided she wanted to order something to eat.

"Zero, I'm going to call a restaurant and order some food. I'll be right back." she said. Zero was concerned about this.

"Wait, don't the humans under the Neo Arcadia rule know you work for the Resistance Base?" Zero asked.

"Oh, my friend works a restaurant over there. She doesn't like reploids very much, but she is still my friend. She lives in New Califern." Ciel responded.

Zero knew nothing of the other cities under Neo Arcadia.

"Oh, okay." he said. Zero continued to help carry some things around and press some buttons.

While Ciel was trying to call, she could hear her friend scream, "AHHH! HELP! A REPLOID OR SOMETHING IS ATTACKING US! HE…" She hung up. Ciel was very worried.

"Zero!" she cried. "Zero, please help my friend in New Califern! I think something is attacking the city…"

Zero raised a brow at this request. He helped Ciel in her quest for peace between humans and reploids once more, but he never actually went into a human city before. None the less, Zero could not turn his back on someone Ciel cared about.

"Alright, trans me over there." He ran to the trans server room and teleported to the city.

**Change of scene**

"The carnage…" Zero said as he walked through the city, which was now pretty much a ghost town. Human bodies lie against some broken buildings, while others were about to die or barely living. They didn't seem to notice Zero walking by. Houses were either still standing with parts of it gone or it was either brought down to the ground completely. The eerie wind blew throughout the city. "Was I too late?" Zero asked aloud.

The odd thing was, Zero had vague memories coming back to him. He remembered another mission to save what was left of a city of some sort. There was nothing left, but he did manage to save one survivor. He tried to remember whom.

The silence of thought was broken by a loud cry of pain somewhere. Zero immediately dashed towards the sound. He kept dashing until something fell on top of him. Surely enough, it was Fefnir. His armor had been melted or shattered. Bruises covered his face and he seemed to be crippled from the way he was laying on top of Zero.

"Ugh…" Fefnir groaned. It was obvious he was unconscious. Zero pushed him off and looked in front of him.

Cyber Dragoon was choking Leviathan with his left arm while he was charging up a fireball with his right palm.

"Neo Arcadian scum! Reploid trash like you protecting humans! What kind of pathetic bitch are you?" Cyber Dragoon said to Leviathan.

Leviathan wasn't listening to most of what Dragoon had to say, mainly because she too was losing consciousness. Dragoon was about to blow Leviathan's head off, but he noticed Zero. He smirked widely and threw Leviathan to a wall.

"Finally you show up. Well, I wasn't really having fun disposing of this Neo Arcadian crap."

He looked at Fefnir and Leviathan's bodies.

"Now I can finally fight you! No interruptions or anything, Zero! Fight me now!" Dragoon yelled at the top of his voice.

In no time at all, Zero had been in his Active form and dashed towards Dragoon the second after he finished talking. With the hilt of his saber, Zero bunted Dragoon in the face. This blow surprised Dragoon, so he didn't have time to parry the blow.

Dragoon staggered back with his hand covering his face. Then he shot an electric fireball at Zero. It missed, since Zero was not in the same spot. Dragoon instinctively swung around and kicked whatever was behind him. Zero got hit in the side as he was going for a surprise attack. Right after the kick connected, Dragoon grabbed Zero by the arm and pulled him into a head butt. Zero had already transformed into his Defense form before Dragoon head butted him. It didn't phase Zero that much, so after the head butt, Zero kneed Dragoon in the stomach. Dragoon coughed as the force almost knocked him out.

Zero was also charging up his buster when he kneed Dragoon. He quickly changed into his X form and shot a fully charged buster shot at point blank range at Dragoon. Right in the face. Dragoon was blown away and his body hit the wall like a ball.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter wasn't done with his offensive. In Active form, Zero dashed towards Dragoon to keep up the attack, but Dragoon recovered quickly from the buster shot and dashed under Zero. Then he hit Zero with a powerful electric-fire uppercut. Zero was flying at the receiving end of this attack. He hit the ground hard, but he tried to get up. It was hot, so some of his armor did melt a bit, but it was shocking as well. His jaw hung open because it was numb form the uppercut.

Zero then charged at Dragoon again, this time using his Z-saber. He swung vertically at Dragoon, He deflected Zero's saber with his massive right hand and then threw a left hook towards Zero's face. Zero switched grips and used his right hand to grab Dragoon's fist before it could hit him.

Dragoon's right eye gleamed a bright yellow as it shot out a laser. It skinned Zero's left shoulder a bit. Right after that, Zero flip-kicked Dragoon, which caused him to let go of Zero. Dragoon covered his face with one hand. When he opened his eyes, he rubbed his chin. Zero was running towards Dragoon. Then, changing into Power form, he swung his Z-saber (charged while running) and the power shockwave of energy shattered a layer of Dragoon's armor and blew him back into another wall. Dragoon slowly got up.

"I think it is time to end this…"

Dragoon was now getting angry that Zero was matching Dragoon blow for blow. Dragoon took a deep breath and stood with his legs apart. His right eye glowed a bright yellow as a laser shot through it at an immeasurable speed. Zero couldn't dodge it no matter how fast he reacted.

Fortunately, Dragoon's aim was off due to the hits Zero had landed. The laser shot cleanly through Zero's shoulder. It might as well blown Zero's arm off if Dragoon aimed any lower. Zero collapsed on his knees to the ground in pain. He didn't want to hold his shoulder, or what was left of it.

Now Dragoon was charging up for a much stronger attack. He opened his mouth as little sparks started to fly out. Then a ball of fire formed in his mouth. It grew bigger and bigger.

Zero tried to concentrate on avoiding the attack, but he was in pain. For safety, he changed into Defense form to brace himself.

Dragoon now fully charged his attack, and shot a stream of fire hot enough to instantly evaporate water. It was aimed towards Zero's direction, and he was ready. Now he equipped the Thunder chip and dashed towards the stream of fire with his saber held out in a stabbing motion. He did this with only his right arm.

"Sengatotsu!" Zero yelled.

The stream of fire hit him, but he didn't burn to ashes since his Defense form strengthened the armor's toughness and resistance to heat.

Dragoon kept the stream flowing, trying to push Zero farther away from him. Zero couldn't dash in the middle of the attack, but he tried to take large steps towards Dragoon. His armor wouldn't hold out for much longer; it was starting to melt. Zero couldn't take anymore steps, and the tip of his Z-saber was only a couple of feet away from Dragoon. Any second now his armor would melt away completely and he would be burnt to ashes. He had to think fast. If he could change into Active form, he could get the boost he needed, but if he were to do so, he would instantly be burnt and melted. He had to change quick enough so he could get close and then change back into Defense for those last seconds of protection.

"Change now!" Zero yelled through the fire.

About a spilt second before he changed, he made a last attempt to dash. In his Active form, he got the speed boost he needed for those last couple of feet. Probably the instant he transformed into Active form, he transformed back into Defense form to protect him from the after-burn of the flame.

The Sengatotsu connected. Zero was able to thrust his saber into the chest of Dragoon, which stopped him from attacking.

"Guh…" Dragoon groaned. He was immobilized by the pain of the attack.

Zero started to charge his Z-saber.

"Take this!"

Zero yelled and let the energy of the saber blast through Dragoon's chest. It blew off Dragoon's chest and dismembered his legs from his upper body. Now Dragoon's head and one shoulder and arm was left of him. He struggled to talk.

"So…you beat me again…how shameful of me." His voice was weak. "Zero…the Revolution will begin." Dragoon coughed as he said this.

"Revolution? What are you talking about?" Zero asked.

Dragoon chuckled weakly and said, "The new Revolution will begin," He coughed. "Long…live…Reploforce!" Dragoon yelled as loud as he could. "Rahhhhhhh!" He yelled again as what was left of him burst into flames.

Zero was shocked by the name. "Rep…plo…force?" Then it all came back to him.

Author: Well, that was a super-sized chapter for me. I'm going to make all my chapters like that! If I can find the time. Well, this is a chapter were there is action, so please read and review! I'm open to hints and flamers (Bring 'em on!). Stay tuned!


	5. Headstrong: Part 1

Author: Welcome readers! It's another brand new installment of _Whispers of a War_. One thing I noticed though. MMZ3 is coming to the States soon, and I think they potentially had the same idea for the last boss battle. Either way, I am going through with my story. So if MMZ3 looks a tad bit similar at the last chapter, then don't mind of it. Thank you people who took the time out of your lives and actually read my fanfic. And those who read and reviewed, thanks! Best regards go to Uzi-Chan, Zindakku and Doug. XD.

Disclaimer: I do not own Capcom. I do not own MMZ2 or the Mega Man Zero series. I wish I did, but those rights belong to Capcom.

_Headstrong: Part 1_

**"Rep…lo…force?" He remembered. Reploforce had been the organization he fought over 100 years ago. The ones who joined thought they could create a world only for reploids. However, Zero and X stopped them from doing so a long time ago. So how could they resurface after all of these years? What was their goal?**

"Ugh…" A moan came from behind Zero. It was Fefnir, struggling to get up.

"What just happened?" Leviathan seemed awake now, but she was leaning on her trident.

Both of the Neo Arcadian guardians took quite a beating from Cyber Dragoon. Thankfully, Zero beat him, but he took damage as well. His left shoulder was practically blown off, and his left arm was still attached to his body, perhaps by a miracle. Zero's armor was also melted, so he only had armor with enough toughness as tissue paper, even in his Defense form.

A glimmering little light flew out of his armor and hovered around Zero. It was a cyber-elf. "I have the power to heal you!" The cyber elf said with glee.

"No!" Zero shouted. He didn't want to sacrifice an elf. He always tried to conserve them, but now if the guardians were to attack Zero, he would be finished.

The cyber elf looked at Zero's shoulder with a concerned look on its face. "But you are so damaged…I should heal you!"

Zero did not want to do this, but he had no way of recovering, and he couldn't leave without making sure Ciel's friend was okay. "Fine. Heal me!" Zero said with a hesitant voice.

"I will do my best!" The elf said with a bold voice. It flew around Zero, sprinkling some kind glittering dust around Zero. Then it disappeared into Zero's left shoulder. Both the shoulder and the entire body regained armor, and Zero was able to move now. He felt sad for having to use an elf like that, but he had to.

Zero noticed something out of the ordinary. There were only two guardians. Harpuia was missing. "Where's Harpuia?" Zero asked.

"How the hell should I know? He's been gone for a while now." Fefnir explained. "Get the hell out of our city, or else I'll…" Fefnir stopped in mid-sentence after feeling a pain on his stomach. "Ugh…" He groaned.

Leviathan wasn't hurt as bad as Fefnir was, but she couldn't walk because her right leg was damaged. Her face was decorated with blue bruises. They matched her hair. "What _are _you doing here anyways? It's unusual of you to come to the aid of a Neo Arcadian city. And I don't think you came to help us, either."

"Not like we needed your help!" Fefnir yelled. "If I paid attention I could have…" Another stomach pain. "Ugh…"

"I just wanted to stroll around." Zero joked. With that said, he turned away and walked the other direction, looking for Ciel's friend.

"Hey come back here! I ain't finished with you! Damn bas…Ugh…" Fefnir decided to stay down.

Zero looked for Ciel's friend. Before he left, Ciel said she had brown hair and always wore a sunflower hat. He hoped he wasn't too late, although he missed most of the action when the guardians fought Cyber Dragoon. The guardians weren't as strong as Zero was, but he found it odd that Dragoon single-handedly beat both guardians at the same time. Then he figured it wasn't really that hard.

"Leviathan doesn't fight well on land, so it was pretty much just Fefnir." Zero thought aloud. Dragoon was pretty strong, though. If that were only a small piece of what Reploforce had to offer, then Zero would have to fight stronger enemies.

A girl ran into him. She wore a sunflower hat and had brown hair. She looked up at Zero, and then she started to try to run away.

"Wait!" Zero said. "I'm here to help you!" The girl kept running. Her house wasn't too far away, so she ran into the house. "Damn…" Zero muttered, as he stood right outside the house. The house itself seemed to be one of the few still intact. It wasn't punctured with holes, and it was still standing.

Zero thought if she was alive, then she was okay. He felt his job was done here. As he turned the other direction, the door opened. The girl had opened the door for him. "Come in…" she said in a meek voice. Zero wondered why all of the sudden Ciel's friend would let him in, but he wanted to make sure Ciel's friend was safe. He took a step inside the house as the girl closed the door behind her.

Zero looked around the house. The inside was dark, and the only light source were a few candles placed around an old woman. Zero had never seen an old human before. Probably the closest was Old Andrew back at the Resistance. The old woman didn't differ much from Andrew, although instead of leaning on a cane, she was sitting down properly. Her eyes looked as if they were closed, but like Andrew, Zero was sure she could see him. She still had hair, but the wrinkles on her forehead and face were abundant.

"Welcome, guest. Please sit down." The old woman said. Her voice wasn't implying a sense of caution or anger. If fact, she seemed as if she knew Zero as a friend before. Her voice was neighborly.

Zero was curious on what the old woman wanted, but in a mannerly way, he sat himself down before the old woman. He couldn't think of what to say, or anything to say at all. He thought it would be best to hear what the old woman had to say first. Zero didn't know why, but he felt nervous. Not even fighting Elpizo or Copy X made him this nervous.

"So, has the attacker stopped yet?" The old woman asked.

"Yes." Zero said promptly. He didn't tell the old woman who he was or that he was the one who stopped the attacker.

"Oh, I see." The old woman raised her hand and motion for the girl to come toward her. "This is my granddaughter, Lesa," the old woman said. "She says you came to help her. You were sent by Ciel, were you not?"

"Yes." Zero said. All he thought of doing was responding to the old woman.

" I see. Well, I'm sure you are a fine lad, taking on an attacker single-handedly like that." She smiled a wrinkled smile.

"I…yes. I did." Zero couldn't believe it. How could the old woman have known that he defeated Cyber Dragoon?

"Even for a blind woman, I can still sense a good person." She turned to Lesa. "You see? Not all reploids are bad. Even the legendary maverick hunter Zero can be gentle!" She exclaimed, still wearing that wrinkled smile.

Lesa turned away, embarrassed that her grandmother was proving her wrong in front of company. "I guess they aren't all bad. I see why Ciel helps them now." There was still some fear in her voice.

Zero was very curious how. "How do you know who I am?"

"Women's intuition." The old woman tapped her forehead with her index finger. "Being blind makes a woman strong. The determination in your voice sets you apart, Zero. My mother told me about your adventures and such. You were a hero."

"What else do you know about me?" Zero asked. He was trying to get some answers from this old woman.

"My mother stopped telling me these stories after you supposedly disappeared. That blue reploid defeated all the mavericks at least. Why did you disappear and come back again, Zero?" The old woman asked.

"I thought it would be the best. I guess that didn't work." Zero stood upright. "Well, thanks for your hospitality. Take care." Then he started walking towards the door.

"A war is inevitable." The old woman said. Her smile disappeared.

Zero turned back. "What?"

"It would seem there has been an uprising with the reploids. The Neo Arcadia will not ignore this attack. Lesa has told me all about your cause, Zero. Unfortunately, I doubt peace is within reach at this time. I don't know if even you can stop this war from happening." The old woman's neighborly voice vanished.

"It looks like the Resistance isn't the only rat running this race. A third party seems to be running as well." Zero said. He knew now that Reploforce had the same intentions a century ago. "I won't let this continue. One way or another, peace will be obtained."

"It is going to take everything you can do in your power to stop this war. You might even need to end it." The old woman said.

"I'll keep that in mind." Zero walked to the door and waved good-bye to Lesa and her grandmother. Before he left, he saw a picture of a middle-aged man holding a rifle and saluting. There were three candles lit around this picture.

"Stop this war Zero. Reploids can't bear to lose another in combat. Humans can't bear to live in pain and fear." The old woman said with a sense of departure in her voice.

When he went outside, he wondered when the first battle would begin. He hoped it would be the last to begin as well.

**Change of scene**

Fefnir and Leviathan were back inside the Neo Arcadia building. Some medic-drones were able to send them for repairs. Although their vitality was able to regenerate, the armor wasn't fully restored. So Fefnir and Leviathan had to take their armor off to get it fixed.

"I didn't think my armor would melt so fast. He just swept me away like a fly…" Leviathan said. She was ashamed of losing to Cyber Dragoon so easily. Losing in front of Zero made it even worse. Watching Zero beat Cyber Dragoon was the worst.

'I could have beaten that bastard if he wasn't so damn fast!" Fefnir yelled. He too, was angry that he lost. All was not lost for Fefnir, however. He did ogle at Leviathan not wearing any armor. He had never seen Leviathan without armor, and now he was noticing her body. His stare wasn't furtive, so Leviathan could tell a mile away that Fefnir was trying to undress her further with his eyes.

Leviathan screamed, "Damn pervert!" She thrust the bottom of her trident into Fefnir's stomach. Since he wasn't wearing any armor, he certainly felt the blow. He coughed and collapsed to the ground on his knees. While he was looking at the ground, Leviathan finished things with a golf swing, knocking Fefnir's head and lights out. Leviathan scoffed and walked away.

**Change of scene**

Zero was back in the Resistance Base. Ciel walked up to him with the usual greeting.

"Are you alright?"

"No. I had to use a Cyber-elf…"

"As long as you are okay…I guess." Ciel didn't like using Cyber-elves as much as Zero did.

"By the way, while you were gone a search team came back with results."

"What search team?"

"A couple of scouts found an underground base full of weapons, and they brought back some. There was a bunch of rifles and such, but there was this one odd weapon in particular."

Ciel handed him a pistol.

Zero took it and looked at it carefully. He never thought Ciel would be one to talk about weapons, since she always tried to solve things without violence. He noticed some words were printed on the hilt of the pistol.

"Ciel, what's Red Alert?"

Author: Not much of an action-packed chapter. Oh well. The next one will be a boss-battle chapter, so be patient. I haven't been updating recently. I have finished a book. _Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp _by C.D. Payne. Funny book. Read and review please. And for the romance genre, I'll add some tidbits of romance between Zero and…someone. You won't know which couple makes it all the way until the end! Stay tuned!


	6. Headsrong: Part 2revised

Author: Hey readers. I'd like to thank those who reviewed, and it looks like I've drawn in some new people. Cool. The Red Alert thing was thrown into the story at the last minute, just to see what kind of attention it would get. I'm starting to get more ideas to add to the story, so I am switching some boss battles around to fit. Once again, best regards to Rioni, Randy, Zindakku, and others. It sucks having to do this disclaimer thing, but whatever. When you forget to post a disclaimer in a chapter, a curse is born. And no one can escape...the grudge. (Meows)

P.S: I revised this chapter by adding more to this and fixing the Harpuia spelling.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mega Man Zero series. I also do not own any characters from the MMZ series. Those rights belong to Capcom. Any created characters are my own, and belong to me.

_Headstrong: Part 2_

**Zero looked at the pistol oddly. "Ciel, what's Red Alert?" he asked.**

Ciel looked at the pistol and read it. "Hmm...I don't exactly know. I'm going to search for it on the computer. Until then, Zero, can you give this pistol to Cerveau? He wants to examine it." Ciel said.

"Okay." Zero said and walked out of the lab and went to Cerveau's room. When he went inside, Cerveau was examining more weapons. The walls of the room were blocked by bundles of rifles, guns, and ammo. Zero had never seen so many weapons at one spot before. Cerveau finally noticed Zero and stopped to turn around.

"Zero! You're back! Do you have the pistol?" Cerveau asked.

"It's right here." Zero handed the pistol to Cerveau. Carefully, Cerveau set the pistol on his desk. He glanced at the rifles leaning on the wall and then glanced back at the pistol. "Hmmm...they seem different. Aside from size and shape, the caliber of the pistol is uneven with the rifles. Interesting..." Cerveau thought aloud. "Zero. I'm going to examine these weapons. When I am done, I'll give you back the pistol."

"Okay." Zero walked out of Cerveau's room and went to his room. He jumped onto his bed and rested his face on the pillow. He finally had time to think now. He wanted to remember more memories of his past. Deep in his thoughts, he drifted into sleep.

**Change of scene**

In a dark room, three silhouettes were having a quiet conversation. One was exceptionally large, while the other two were about average size. They stood on opposite sides of a table, and the only source of light was a very dim light bulb. It had been raining outside, but the window blocked out the rain. A small storm was picking up as lightning struck a bit loudly. Each time it did the room lit up for about a split-second before it was dark again. The rain poured down harder and harder. It might as well been hail from the sound it made when it hit the windows.

"Did you do it?" The large one was saying. His voice was deep.

"Yes, it has been planted. He will serve us." The second figure said, with a female voice.

The third silhouette lighted a small fire with his index finger and lit up a cigar. The flame was quick to burn out, but the cigar caught the fire and kept going. "Dun mattah to meh. Dat shrimp ain't gonna do nut'in to Zer-ruh. Y'all mean?" His voice had an odd accent, and it wasn't the cigar.

"I would not underestimate that one. He has been qualified to be Zero's opponent. Whether he will succeed is an entirely different matter." The female said.

"So? He still a fa'can shrimp!" The other one said.

"I second that." The large one said.

**Change of scene**

"I second that, X." Zero said.

Zero was standing next to X is a large room. It had a huge screen and was displaying a mission briefing. Of course, Zero and X never really read the briefing. They only paid attention to what the objective was.

X was still in his body. He had azure armor on and a round helmet. He didn't have hair sticking out of the helmet or a mane like Zero, and he had a buster cannon on his right arm, which he can turn on and off.

"Yeah, I'll bet you would want to run this one, too." X said.

"Heh. I always run guerilla missions. I mean, who would want to walk when there are millions of shots raining down on you?" Zero asked.

"Signas. When he's on one of his power walks." X said. They both burst into laughter and found themselves rolling on the floor. Just then, the screen switched form the briefing to a girl. She had brown hair and wore a beret. She had a look on her face that expressed concern and seriousness at the same time.

"X, Zero. Your objective is to search the underground base and find what weapons you can. We may need them for future use." The girl said.

"On it." X said. He stood upright now and saluted the girl.

"Aye aye, captain. Zero said. Saluting the girl to mock X. X noticed this of course and playfully punched Zero on his arm.

The girl giggled at Zero. "Zero, X. Just do the mission. And don't forget, Zero. You promised to show me the sky tonight." The girl said.

"Don't worry. As soon as the night sky appears, I'll show you the stars. Don't miss me too much, Iris." Zero said. He posed masculinity.

"Zero, if you didn't have such a fit body I would swear you were a girl with that hair." Iris said.

X laughed at the joke, and Zero grabbed his ponytail. He didn't want to think it made him less manly. In fact, he thought it made him look more macho.

"Low blow, Iris." Zero said, mock-sulking.

Iris rolled her eyes. "Be back soon, Zero! And good luck!"

"Okay." Zero dashed out of the room with X following close behind. Zero was leading in their little 'race', but he hit his head on a door. X stopped dashing and offered a hand to help Zero get up.

"Sheesh, Zero! You can't always be headstrong like that. You'll forget how to feel if you do." X said.

Zero grabbed X's hand and got up. "I guess you're right. I haven't exactly forgotten how to feel yet." Zero rubbed his head and winced at the pain. X laughed.

"Come on, Zero. It's go time."

**Change of scene**

Zero woke up from his dream. He felt all too familiar in that scene, with X and the girl. Zero whispered her name to himself.

"Iris..."

He wanted to know more about her relations with him. She seemed to be comfortable with him. Zero rubbed his head around the spot he had hit his head in his dream. He had also hit his head on the wall in the exact same spot. He got out of his bed and walked to Ciel's lab. He couldn't sleep anymore.

When he opened the door, he said, "Hi Ciel. What are you do-" He stopped, noticing Ciel was fast asleep. She was snoring peacefully on her desk._ She must have fallen asleep while doing work. And she tells me to not overstrain myself._ Zero found a blanket on the floor. He picked it up and put the blanket over Ciel. _I wonder what time it is?_ Zero decided to go to Cerveau's lab. Cerveau was never one to sleep, especially when he was delivered a load of weapons to examine.

He opened Cerveau's door, came in, and said, "Hey Cerveau. What's up?" Zero noticed even Cerveau was sleeping. Unlike Ciel, he was snoring rather loudly. The gun barrel of a rifle was also pointed to his mouth while he was snoring. Alarmed, Zero set the rifle in another spot. _Cerveau wouldn't want to wake up like that._ He glanced at the clock in Cerveau's lab. _He has a clock. With all the work he does, I wonder if he ever looked at it?_ It was still early morning, a little bit before dawn.

Zero walked out of the base and past by a few guards. He wanted to find this Red Alert base himself, to take a good look at things. He asked the guards if they knew where it was, and they had no clue. They weren't the ones who went to scout that base. Zero decided to just walk around outside.

Zero enjoyed the dusk sky. He knew morning was going to come, but he wanted to enjoy the darkness for a little while. He could still see a few things, but most were hidden in shadows. He looked up in the sky to find some stars. Zero thought he wouldn't see any before dawn, but he found one shining brightly. "That's one for one." Zero said. Soon the sun was going to rise.

Suddenly, a sonic boom came flying towards Zero. He leaped above the wave before it could hit him. Zero looked around to get a look of the attacker. It was still before dawn, so it was dark. Then a burst of emerald energy enveloped a figure. This reploid wore emerald armor. His helmet had 'ears' that stuck up high, and he had boosters on his back. The figure held two purple beam sabers, and his green eyes were outline with an odd red gleam.

Zero recognized the figure easily. "Harpuia, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to kill you." Harpuia said coldly. He started to laugh and then said; "I don't care about humans or Neo Arcadia or this damn war anymore! All I want now is to completely destroy you! Piece by bloody red piece!

Zero knew Harpuia better. He would not come out of the blue for a fight. Harpuia was not reckless like that.

Harpuia smiled a cold, empty smile. The fairly noticeable gleam in his eyes grew brighter. The energy disappeared, and once again it was dark. The only light Zero could see was the gleam in Harpuia's eyes. Harpuia charged at Zero with an incredible speed. Even after he made contact with Zero, he kept flying. Eventually Harpuia rammed Zero through the walls of the Resistance Base, since they weren't that far away.

They were both going too fast for the guards to take aim. Cerveau was still sleeping and snoring, until both Zero and Harpuia came out through the walls. The weapons provided a cushion of some sort, and Harpuia stopped flying. Zero kicked him off using both legs and activated his Z-saber. Harpuia smoothly somersaulted and landed feet-first on the floor. Again, he charged towards Zero, swing both of his beam sabers diagonally at him.

Zero swung his saber and they both clashed. Sparks of beam energy flew here and there, while Cerveau was startled. He tried to grab and weapon and aim for Harpuia, but his aim was ruined when Harpuia activated his boosters and forced Zero into the wall again. This time, they rammed into the Operations Room. Both operators were still awake, and were appalled that not only the wall had a large hole through it, but that Zero and Harpuia were fighting.

"Trans us now!" Zero yelled and at the same time was fending off Harpuria.

"Where?" One of the operators asked.

"Anywhere! Just not near here!" Zero yelled back.

The operators exchanged shrugs and sat themselves down to trans them both. "Transferring to the Desert area. 3...2...1..."

Zero and Harpuia both disappeared in a flash of bright light.

**Change of scene**

In the middle of the desert area, Zero and Harpuia were still fighting on the ground. Then both parted away and stood in defensive positions. Zero panted heavily while Harpuria was holding on to his sides. The sun rose up and there was light. Both waited until they could see each other perfectly before they attacked.

Right when the sun gave light to their bodies, Harpuia dashed into Zero with ridiculously high speed. You couldn't even see a green blur. Harpuia stood behind Zero and smirked. The attack finally sank in and Zero's armor chest plate was sliced into four peaces. Now Zero's chest was unprotected, only by the black suit he wore under his armor.

Zero couldn't believe how fast Harpuia went. He turned around, expecting another attack, and was surprised to find that Harpuia was panting. Zero took this opportunity to charge up his saber and equip the Ice chip. Then he brought down his saber on Harpuia's back and the splash of Ice energy from the saber hit Harpuia. He fell forward and landed face-first on the ground. Zero jumped in the air and thrust his saber in a downward stabbing motion in mid-air.

"Sharp Edge!" Zero cried.

Harpuia leaped out of the way before the attack had landed. He took to the air and held both of his sabers in an 'X' formation over his head. "Thunder Strike!" He yelled.

A purple bolt of lightning quickly came down from the sky and struck Zero. Well, it would have if Zero hadn't dodged it in time. Right after the lightning bolt hit the ground, it traveled into smaller sparks and shot back up. Zero didn't expect this, and was truck by the smaller bolt. Consecutively, another bolt came down and struck Zero the moment Zero had been hit by the smaller bolt. Now he felt the full strike.

"Arrgh!" Zero cried out in pain. He had been electrocuted as sparks of purple thunder traveled throughout his entire body. Then another bolt came down on Zero. And then another. And another. Harpuia didn't stop until the dirt from the ground created a smoke cloud, concealing his view of Zero. Harpuia was getting tired but was still hovering.

He grew impatient, waiting for the smoke screen to clear. He then flew towards it and landed on his feet, creating several green energy waves in the process. This drained him further, and he panted, getting tired. He didn't notice Zero wasn't in the same spot anymore.

On cue, Zero appeared in front of Harpuia and slammed the ground with it. It was fully charged, and the splash wave hit Harpuia in his critical spot below his chest. The Ice element numbed Harpuia's body and slowed down his movement a bit. Zero then swung his saber at Harpuia's stomach area, but Harpuia tripped backward, escaping the attack with a shallow cut. While he was on the ground, he shot a short Sonic Boom at Zero's chest.

His chest armor was sliced off, so Zero took the entire attack. Since it was small, it didn't cut him. It did hurt him though. Zero yelled loudly in pain and collapsed in the ground clutching his breast. (A/N Or his pec. Zero does have a muscular body.)

Harpuia took advantage of this moment of weakness and flew towards Zero with a high-speed head butt. Harpuia's head butted Zero chest, which caused him greater pain. Harpuia kept flying and rammed Zero into a small desert cliff. The sharp rock and gravel tore through Zero's black suit, and exposed his flesh. Harpuria rammed him deeper until they came out of the other side.

Then Harpuia held up Zero and threw him into a large rock. Zero hit the rock with his back, and it nearly broke it. Zero was bleeding from his mouth and his muscles, which some were torn. He struggled desperately to get up.

Harpuia wasted no time to mock Zero and charged again at Zero. Even in intense pain, Zero was prepared. He quickly slashed at Harpuia vertically. Harpuia barely made it out of harm, but his left booster and wing was cut off. Now Harpuia wouldn't be able to fly or be as fast as he was. Harpuia glanced at his missing booster, horrified. Zero then threw a strong right hook to Harpuia's face while he was in his Power form. The fist met the face and Harpuia was almost knocked out. He fell on the ground with the wind knocked out of him.

Zero then smashed the ground with his right fist. "Giga Attack!" He yelled. Then, two larges splashes of Ice elemental energy ran across the ground on both of Zero's sides. The right wave struck Harpuia and was strong enough to shatter two layers of armor, which Harpuia only had left. Harpuia rolled on the ground now in even more pain.

Harpuia opened his eyes slowly and found that Zero was pointing his Z-buster in front of Harpuia's face. Zero charged it up and said, "Harpuia. What are you doing here?"

Again, he smiled a cold, hollow smile and simply said, "I'm here to kill you!"

Zero noticed a small chip on Harpuia's neck. Zero shot the charged buster shot at Harpuia's neck, destroying the chip and injuring Harpuia greatly. Harpuia rose up slowly, and the red gleam in his eyes was gone.

"This...doesn't...change...anything...Zero..." Harpuia lost consciousness and fell forward. Zero was able to catch him before he fell. Harpuia's head rested on Zero's chest while Zero cradled him. "Idiot. If you act headstrong like that you'll never beat me." Zero picked up Harpuia and contacted the operators. "Operator. Trans me back. I'm bringing in a reploid for repairs."

**Change of scene**

"What! Are you crazy Zero? What if he attacks again?" Ciel asked with a worried and loud voice.

Ciel had woken up from her beauty sleep and now was questioning Zero about his choice. After the battle with Harpuia, Zero brought him back to the base for repairs. Now he was standing in front of Ciel holding Harpuia in his arms.

"Ciel, please. He wasn't himself when he fought me. I know he won't attack us like that." Zero protested.

Ciel sighed deeply. She wasn't the only one who was alarmed by this. Nearly the entire Resistance base objected this. She agreed, but with Zero's and Harpuia's current condition, she couldn't say no.

"Fine. Harpuia can stay for the repairs. But...are _you_ okay Zero?" Ciel asked.

The mention of condition triggered something in his body. He didn't feel it before, but his body remembered that he was in pain. He collapsed on the floor with Harpuia. It took everything Zero had just to stand up.

**Change of scene**

Harpuia wasn't happy when he woke up. It had been several hours after the fight when he woke up. His armor was still being restored, but he was grumpy. To add on to the misery, he had to wear a Resistance uniform until he could wear his armor again. If it weren't for Zero, he would have attacked Cerveau when he woke up. Now he sat in a waiting room, waiting. He felt like a prisoner of war. Maybe he was one. He couldn't believe that Zero actually saved his life. The thought of mercy confused him, and Harpuia wondered why Zero never retired him in all the battles they had fought.

_He lets me live. Why? Why does he show me mercy? Does he pity me?_ The thought made him angry. The animosity for Zero grew in Harpuia. He wondered why he even saved Zero when he was in the desert. As to answer his own question, he said aloud, "Because I couldn't stand the thought of Zero dieing not by my hands." A small smirk came upon his face. Now he had an even-temper. He thought of his relationship with Zero not to be filled with animosity or bitter hatred at all, but more of a rivalry. Whether it was friendly or not Harpuia had to still decide, but his thoughts were interrupted as the door opened.

Harpuia had expected Zero to come in, and he was preparing himself for that. To his surprise, a small girl with blond hair and a stuffed-animal came in. She had large eyes for her size, and she had a nice shade of vermilion on her cheeks. Her expression wasn't shocked or afraid, but it was an expression of curiosity. The little girl walked right up to Harpuia and tilted her head to the side, getting a better view of the emerald guardian.

The little girl then asked, "Are you Harpuria?"

"Harpuia." He corrected.

"Oh, okay. Zero told me about you." Then the little girl tilted her head to the other side to get another view. "You don't look like what I thought you would look like." She reached into her pocket and took out a small picture. It was supposed to be a picture of Harpuia, but it didn't look like him.

The picture had green armor like Harpuia, but the 'ears' on his helmet were horns in the picture. He had four legs, which seemed to be talons, and a long green tail. To top it off, he had a long red tongue sticking out and his eyes had an evil expression.

The picture, of course, appalled Harpuia. "What is this? This is _not _I! I don't know what Zero told you, but I do not look like..._this_!" He could hardly control the bewilderment and anger in his voice.

"Zero didn't tell me that, I just imagined you would look like that. Except you look a lot prettier than my picture." The little girl smiled warmly and held out her hand. "My name is Alouette. Do you want to play with me?"

When Alouette smiled, something in Harpuia melted. The anger and icy emotions that he had when he fought Zero disappeared. He didn't realize he was blushing and leaving Alouette waiting. "Of course. Yes, I'll play with you." He held her hand and shook it. He stood upright, about to pick Alouette up.

Alouette leaped up and down. "Yay! Let's play piggy-back!" Her voice was shrill with excitement. She jumped onto Harpuia's back and wrapped her arms around Harpuia's neck.

Harpuia's hair covered her face, but she could speak clearly. No one had ever really seen Harpuia's hair, which was green like his armor. He usually wanted to keep it covered, but at the present time, he didn't care. He chuckled lightly as he walked around the room with Alouette on his back, shouting with glee. For the first time, he had fun. Not the kind of fun he had when he fought Zero, not the adrenaline-rush, but rather the fun children would have with they are playing. For the first time in a long time, Harpuia felt happy.

"You kids having fun?" Zero was leaning on the wall watching the entire thing.

Harpuia's expression changed. Now he had a more serious face, but he kept cool and calm. Alouette slid off Harpuia and ran up to Zero.

"Hiya Zero! I was playing with Harpuria here!" She was panting a little bit from playing, probably breathing for air after yelling so much.

"Harpuia."

"Harpuia."

Zero and Harpuia both corrected her in unison. Zero chuckled a bit and Harpuia gave a small smile. Alouette poked Zero to ask him something.

"Do you want to play, too?" Alouette asked.

"Sorry, Alouette. I can't right now. Besides, Ciel wants to see you right now." Zero pats her head gently. "You had better go now."

"Okay." Alouette said. She wasn't disappointed or anything. As she skipped out of the room, she waved good-bye. "Bye Harpur...Harpuia! I want to play piggy-back again when I come back, okay?"

Harpuia waved back and said, "It's a deal."

Alouette skipped out of the room while Zero closed the door. He still leaned on the wall and kept his sight on Harpuia. Harpuia kept his eyes on Zero. Both were silent.

"Nice uniform you got there." Zero said, trying to start a conversation with a small joke.

Harpuia kept a cool exterior and said back, "Well, my uniform is nothing compared to your black leotard."

Indeed Zero was wearing his black suit that he usually wore under his armor. It was skin tight, so the majority of his muscle outlines were visible. He cursed under his breath and said, "Whatever."

Harpuia finally noticed Zero's hair. Zero he his helmet off, so now Harpuia could see that Zero had blond hair on top of his head as well. It resembled helmet hair, although one could infer that already. It was his mane that set Zero apart. His long blond ponytail was still tied up, but under the light of the room it seemed to shine. Harpuia never really had a second glance of Zero's mane, since he was more focused in trying to defeat him.

"Zero. If you weren't strong like a man, I'd say with the hair you would be more feminine." Harpuia chuckled at his little joke. "I'm a little green with envy."

_I've heard that line before._ Zero grabbed his ponytail. "Of course you're jealous. You can't ever have hair like this." Then Zero noticed Harpuia's green hair. "Ha, just as I expected. You got green hair!" Zero meant that in a more teasing matter.

Harpuia shot up his right hand to cover up his hair. It was like a reflex, but he realized it was pointless and he put down his hand. Now he noticed he was actually talking with Zero. This surprised him how easily they could talk after a battle. Then again, it wasn't really Harpuia fighting back there.

"You should have killed me." Harpuia said in a more serious, if not depressed tone. "You could have let me die with dignity."

Zero scoffed and said, "When you die, you don't _have _dignity. Besides, I have no reason to kill you."

Harpuia didn't feel a bit better. "That was weak of me. I allowed myself to be controlled so easily. I was just a puppet. A subordinate." He clenched his fist. "That was not me back there."

"Of course it wasn't. If it were you, you would have fought smarter than that."

Harpuia was surprised at what Zero said. _Did he just compliment me?_

" I'm not saying you would have fought harder. You were dangerous back there. But the Neo Arcadian guardian Harpuia, the Harpuia I knew would not have fought so recklessly." In an odd way, Zero was trying to make Harpuia feel a bit better. Zero turned his head away to look at a wall.

Harpuia half-smiled and said, "Thanks."

Zero shrugged and said, "No problem." He glanced at the clock in the room. "Well, our armors should be done in a few minutes or so. Probably yours first, since you cut my chest armor to pieces."

Harpuia laughed. "I suppose I did. It's more fitting that I have my armor done first, anyway."

"Whatever. Listen, I'm going to check on Ciel. You stay put in here. Alright?" Zero raised a brow.

"Yes, mother." Harpuia said in a child's voice.

Zero walked out of the room but didn't close the door. Harpuia was about to close it, but he figured he would just sit down and think. He tried to remember how he was manipulated and who exactly did this. All Harpuia could remember was exploring the Sky Lagoon and then getting knocked out. He knew that he would get revenge on whoever did this to him. He wanted to get revenge on whoever humiliated him like this, treating him as a mere lapdog. Then he wondered, _Was I a lapdog for X?_

His thoughts were interrupted when an old reploid walked into the room. It was Old Andrew. He fumbled his way into the room, looking for something. He didn't seem to notice Harpuia sitting down at all. Harpuia wasn't pleased with this.

"Hey. What do you think you're doing?" Harpuia said.

Old Andrew turned around; quite surprised he heard a voice. He seemed to wrinkle his face when he faced Harpuia's direction, but Harpuia couldn't tell he was wrinkling his face because there were already many wrinkles. Old Andrew coughed and said, "Respect your elders, sonny. And I thought the Neo Arcadian guardian would have manners. Guess this old man isn't good enough for that, eh?"

Harpuia was getting a little stressed right now, and then he realized that he shouldn't have talked to Old Andrew in that tone. "Sorry. I'm just not in a good mood today. Wait...how do you know who I am?"

Old Andrew smiled. "Well, this old man can't see as well as other people may think, but I can hear voices perfectly. Your authority and your strength are heard in your voice. From voices I can tell many things. I call tell when a person is in a very bad mood, or the exact opposite. I could tell when the voice I hear has manners or not." He coughed again.

Harpuia smiled. He never really met an old reploid before. He had met old humans before, but he never really talked to them at all. _Interesting fellow._ "I suppose you're right about the voice thing." He said, not really having much else to say.

"As I have told you, I can tell when a person is in a bad mood, or when something is wrong." Old Andrew sat down next to Harpuia. "And something is troubling you, sonny. So tell Old Andrew what's on your mind."

Harpuia said openly, "I think I'm weak. I let myself become some puppet, doing things against my own will. Worst of all is, when I was a puppet I fought harder than I had ever fought. It wasn't even me fighting. And I still lost."

Old Andrew nodded his head, taking everything in. "Have you found your soul?"

Harpuia looked puzzled. "My soul? Don't only humans have a soul?"

Old Andrew shook his head. "Sonny, everything living thing has a soul. From humans to reploids to the animals left on this planet."

Harpuia said back, "But humans created reploids. It's not like they created our souls as well."

"No, you are wrong, sonny. Humans may have created reploids, but they never created their souls. When they created the brain and the body, the soul comes in by itself. But you have to find it. You see, when you find your soul you find your purpose. That way, you become stronger and move on in life. Take Zero for example."

Harpuia rolled his eyes and listened.

"Zero has found his soul. He found it, maybe for the second time, when Ciel woke him up from stasis. His purpose was to protect the ones he cared for: the Resistance, X, reploids, humans, Ciel, and others. It is that drive, that motivation that keeps him going. It gives him hope, courage, and strength to fight for the ones you care about. You see Harpuia, when you find your soul, you will indeed become stronger."

"Find my soul..." Harpuia thought deeply about this. "I'll keep that in mind."

Old Andrew smiled again. He pat Harpuia's head and walked out of the room.

**Change of scene**

Harpuia set on his helmet and looked out at the setting sun. Zero, Cerveau, and Ciel were outside with Harpuia. Alouette and Old Andrew were outside, too. Harpuia turned to them all.

"Thank you for your hospitality." He turned to Zero lastly. "Zero, this doesn't change anything." The voice he had when he said this was new to Zero. If he didn't know better, he could have sworn there was compassion in Harpuia's voice. Nevertheless, Harpuia still sounded strong. Harpuia turned away and activated his boosters.

"Bye-bye, Harpuia! Come back and play with me sometime okay?" Alouette asked.

"Find it, sonny. It's waiting there for ya!" Old Andrew yelled.

Harpuia smiled warmly at both of them. He waved good-bye to them and flew back to the Neo Arcadia.

**Change of scene**

"Where were you?" Leviathan was nagging Harpuia for answers. "You could have told us you would have been gone that long!"

Fefnir smirked and said, "I'll bet Harpuia was doing his own thing. Anything to get away form Leviathan, huh?"

Harpuia smirked back. Leviathan, glared at Fefnir, then she turned back to Harpuia. "Well, at least you're back. We have clean-up duty." She threw Harpuia and Fefnir a trash bag.

"What! Why the hell do we have to clean up?" Fefnir demanded.

"Because, it was our fault that attack happened. And Harpuia wasn't there to help."

"Damn it Levi!" Fefnir yelled.

"By the way, Harpuia," Levi smiled. "Welcome home."

"Good to be back." Harpuia felt the same way he felt with Alouette and Old Andrew. He felt good. He was truly home. Now he could leave this all behind and move on. "Come on, we got to take out the trash." Harpuia and the other two guardians walked out of the room.

Author: Whew, what a chapter. I was thinking about adding more to this one, but I'll save it for the next chapter. I haven't forgotten about Red Alert but I was going to save that for next chapter as well. I had to switch boss battles around so it didn't always seem like the base was under constant attack. And I'm sure all of the readers were wondering about Harpuia. Please read and review (again)!


	7. A Red Dead Revolver

Author: I have seen it! I have seen MMZ3! Now I understand what Rioni was talking about. For that question, those silhouettes are not the guardians that Dr. Weil built. You will find out who they are soon. The Harpuia error...damn strategy guide! Now I'm going to spell his name correctly. Again, bless the readers and reviewers. Now this is the part where the questions about Red Alert are answered. Let's rock!

Disclaimer: I do not own the MMZ series. Those rights belong to Capcom. I do not own any characters from that series. I own my created characters (who will appear soon enough).

_A Red Dead Revolver_

**Zero was lying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was waiting for Ciel to finish her data check on Red Alert and on the pistol. This made Zero think.**

_Are there other organizations planning to destroy humans? What is Red Alert?_ Zero pondered about this. Minutes went by like seconds as he swam through his ocean of thoughts. He thought about how the Resistance is doing, then Neo Arcadia, then X, then his memories. He didn't notice that his eyes were closed as he thought. _Iris. That name. Who was Iris?_ Every time he thought of her name he had a small shot of pain in his chest. Close to his "heart." He thought about Reploforce. He had fought Cyber Dragoon and defeated Harpuia for a third time when he was controlled to kill him. He would have picked up the black box that was on Harpuia if he didn't destroy it.

Zero rubbed his forehead. He was getting a headache. There were too many things to think about. It reminded him of Ciel. She was always overworking herself. If the research for the energy source hadn't been enough, now she was finding information on Red Alert. Feeling guilty, Zero got out of bed and walked out of his room. He wanted to tell Ciel to call it off, and that he didn't need to know about Red Alert.

There were only clothes on Zero's body. He wasn't even wearing the black suit he would usually wear under his armor. The armor itself was almost ready for repairs, but Zero felt natural wearing clothes, although they were the Resistance uniforms. As he was walking towards Ciel's lab, somebody from behind him bumped into him.

A Resistance soldier was on the ground, rubbing his head. He didn't wear a hat or cap. He had bushy, short black hair and a baby face. When he opened his eyes, he started to speak. "Oh...sorry I was in the way." Then he looked up. The soldier had realized that he bumped into the legendary Zero. He stood upright quickly and straighten himself out, then saluted Zero.

Zero noticed that during this time the soldier was trembling. He chuckled and said to the soldier, "At ease. You don't need to salute me."

The soldier put his hand down, but he was still trembling. He gulped and said, "Sorry Sir. Officer-in-training Max requesting apology...uh...Sir."

Zero smirked and patted Max's shoulder. "If you're in training, here's some advice. Around me, you don't need to do the reporting crap. Okay?"

"Yes Sir...I mean...Zero. Can I call you 'Zero?'" Max asked.

"Sure, Max." Zero held out his hand. Max shook it and slowly smiled. Then he asked Zero something else.

"Zero, where is Ciel's lab? I have to give her this weapon." Max held out the pistol recovered from the old Red Alert base.

"Here. I'll take it to her." Zero took the pistol. He noticed Max gazing at the pistol when it was in his hand. "Okay, Max. I'll do it."

"Sure..." Max snapped back to reality. "See you later, Zero!"

"Take care Max."

Max walked back into his quarters, which were next to Zero's room, oddly enough.

**Change of scene**

The doors slid open automatically as Zero walked in. Ciel's lab was filled with technology here and there. The main computer was on Ciel's desk while the capsules of her test results were near the corner of the room. Another computer was located near the door that had information on mostly any subject. The sound of the room was actually the whirs and beeps of the computers and such. The other noise was the one Ciel was making when she was typing on her computer.

Ciel didn't notice Zero come in until Zero knocked on the wall. Although he was already inside, he thought it would be humorous to knock. Ciel turned around, pleasantly surprised to see Zero. She stood up and walked over to him. Her face beamed brightly, and it seemed that she never looked tired at all. Zero knew better, though. He knew it was a near-perfect act to fool anyone that Ciel was always energetic and had a good night's sleep. Zero, however, can observe how the body's condition can fluctuate time to time, and even though Ciel looked energetic and radiant (this Zero noticed), how she reacted and the way her body responded, he can tell Ciel was getting lethargic.

"Hello, Zero. I assume you have the pistol?" Ciel had an upbeat voice, although it was probably forced.

"Yeah. It's right here." Zero held out the pistol. "By the way, have you gotten any data on Red Alert yet?"

Ciel nodded and said, "There was some data, but most of its files were in the base itself. I couldn't access it from my computer. Maybe you would have to get the data from there." Ciel's face lit up brightly at a thought as if a light bulb went off above her head. "Zero, while you are at it, can you bring over any more weapons from the base? I think we may have left some supplies there."

It was strange that Ciel was one to talk about weapons. Zero didn't question her, however. He knew Ciel always took extra precautions to ensure safety for the Resistance, since it was absent of a general. Besides, Zero wanted to check out the base for himself. "Okay." Zero said tersely.

"And one more thing," Ciel continued. "Cerveau wants to see you before you leave. Will you need the coordinates for the base?"

"No thanks. I'll drive there. It's not that far is it?"

"Probably an hour or so."

"Alright. Then I'll drive." Zero needed to clear his head. A brisk ride through the desert would be perfect.

Ciel wondered about why Zero decided to ride, but she thought Zero needed some space. At the back of her head, though, she wanted Zero to trans himself there so he can return shortly. It always worried her that Zero would be gone long on missions. Nevertheless, she had faith in him, and she knew he would return.

"Okay. Don't take too long, though. We all would be very worried if you were gone long." Ciel said.

_The Resistance or you, Ciel?_ "Alright. Later, Ciel."

"Bye, Zero."

**Change of scene**

"Before you leave, I wanted to let you know that you should use this pistol on your way there." Cerveau looked at the pistol one last time.

"Why? Are you saying I will get attacked on the way?" Zero questioned him.

"That's not the worst, Zero. Danger aside, I need you to give this weapon a few tests runs."

"Why can't you try it out here?"

"Because for some reason, it won't fire anything." Cerveau picked up the pistol and pulled the trigger in front of Zero. Nothing came out, just the sound of an empty click.

"Oh. Then I'm supposed to figure out how to use it?" Zero crossed his arms.

"Frankly, yes. Hopefully you'll bring it back in one piece." Cerveau crossed his arms, mocking Zero in a way.

**Change of scene**

There were many vehicles in the garage of the Resistance. Many of the land chasers and air bikes were stored here, parked for safety. It wasn't like the Resistance soldiers rode on them everyday, or if anytime at all. Thus, dust collected on those chasers and bikes. Hopefully, for Zero's sake, they were still operational.

When Zero walked in, the hover bikes were parked on the right side while the land chasers on the left. The bikes were slimmer and thinner, also more mobile with their lightness in weight. However, one good shot and they could get blown up easily. On the other side were the land chasers. They were wider and a bit larger than the bikes, and were less mobile. The advantage they had was in sheer speed and armor. As Zero was making his decision, he heard the sound of metal clanking together.

A mechanic was putting together some random parts, mostly parts of golems found in the desert area. His face was marked with spots of grease and dirt, but he wore goggles. Under those goggles were eyes of a hardworking mechanical genius. Those eyes were scanning through every part to make sure those would fit or not. He had short blond hair, although some brown spots were noticeable. After he put in another part, he wiped some grease on his forehead and heard someone behind him. He turned around, half-surprised to see Zero.

"Well, hello Zero! What brings you down here? My name is Sam, by the way." Sam held out his hand to shake.

Zero glanced at Sam's hand and then back to Sam. Then Sam noticed his hand was stained with grease.

"Oops, sorry!" Sam rubbed his hand on his shirt, giving it another stain. The stains were like dots on a Dalmatian's back. They were abundant on his shirt.

"That's alright." Zero looked around. "So, do these vehicles still work?"

"Of course they do! I built them myself!" Sam rose proudly and patted his chest. "They don't call me Sam the Mechanic for nothing!"

Zero was impressed that Sam was able to build them all. "So, which one works the best?"

Sam rubbed his chin and looked around. Then he walked over to one of the chasers near him. He looked at it up and down, and then shook his head. After that, he went over to the side with all of the bikes, and examined one. He nodded his head in approval and wiped the dust off of the bike.

"She's a keeper. She may be old, but she's faster than any of the newer models."

Zero hopped on the bike and gripped the accelerators. He revved it up and it started up. He smirked and said, "I like it."

**Change of scene**

The gusty desert winds roared wildly as if were a storm. Zero, however, did not fear the storm nor noticed it, because his ragged brown cloak protected him. The bike was indeed fast, even faster than Zero imagined. In the sea of sand it ripped through and plowed its way to the Red Alert base. Ciel said the ride was an hour, but in the speed Zero was in, he could reach the base in half the time. His long mane fluttered behind him like a dog wagging its tail. Even with sand beating on it, it retained its blond volume and brightness.

Zero found the scene to be quite pleasing. Surprisingly, his ride was smooth in the thundering desert scene. The easy cruise made his body feel comfortable, and he dreamt as he rode.

**Change of scene**

"I like the stars at night." Iris said.

She and Zero were on a hover bike, riding through a desert area. It was a cool night, and the stars crowded the night sky. She hugged Zero tighter while she was riding behind him. Zero had a guilty pleasure when Iris hugged him tighter. It made him feel protective of her, and for both of them it was a turn-on (A/N: No pun.). Of course, Zero had time to admire the sky as well. His ride was smooth, and he slowed down a little bit. Iris then loosened her grip on Zero to point at something in the sky.

"Look, a shooting star! I never seen those before..." Iris awed at the star as it streaked across the sky in a brilliant light.

"You know, when you see a shooting star, you can make a wish." Zero informed her.

Iris smiled and said aloud, "I wish for..."

**Change of scene**

Zero stepped on the brake. The storm settled down a bit and Zero was able to see an underground passage of some sort. The sand never filled it up, although there was sand on the floor inside. Nevertheless, Zero parked his bike outside of the passage and walked in.

**Change of scene**

It was an abandoned base on the inside. He was in the controls room, and he looked around for any sign of a weapons room. Most of the equipment and old computers were either broken, covered in sand, or both. Most of them were the latter. Zero wondered how the Resistance found any weapons here. From the look of things, it would seem unlikely. Out of all the things that were broken though, the lights were still working. Zero found this too odd. Then he spotted a door that had a sign on it. It read "Weapons" on the sign in letters nearly illegible. Zero opened the door manually by pushing both of the doors open.

Someone beat him to the weapons. A cloaked figure was transporting the weapons into a small container (Zero found this an ingenious invention). On its cloak it had the symbol of two red-colored R's. The figure heard Zero opened the door and turned around. Its hood concealed its facial features, so Zero had no idea who or what it was. Zero didn't get a chance to find out because right before Zero could act, the figure quickly slid under Zero and ran behind him.

Zero cursed under his breath and chased after the figure. Zero transformed to Active form and gained speed. He was catching up with the figure quickly. The figure, however, was a couple of steps ahead and drew out a pistol. As it ran, it fired a shot without looking back. With remarkable aim, the shot hit Zero on his knee and slowed him down. Zero tripped and fell face first on the floor. He looked up and the figure was still running. Without haste, Zero leaped into the air and landed back on the ground with a dash. Now he was covering more ground.

They both kept running towards the orifices that lead to the exit. Once they were outside, the figure pressed a button on the container it had and it shot out a beam of light. The light materialized into a hover bike. It hopped on and floored the pedal. Zero also had jumped onto his bike, but he was a second or two late. Zero accelerated and chased after the figure on the bike.

The storm was slowly picking up. _Damn, not now!_ Zero had perfect vision of the figure until some sand started blowing on his face. Now the cloaked figure was gaining more speed. Zero took out his Chain Rod and threw the spearhead towards the figure. It wasn't far away, so the spear barely made it. It stabbed onto the rear end of the bike, and Zero tried to pull himself closer to the figure.

His plan would have worked if the gust of desert wind ripped through the air and nearly threw Zero out of his bike. The noise of the wind roaring and the sand blinding his vision, he had no choice but to withdraw the Chain Rod. Now the wind finally threw Zero and the bike hurling in the air. Zero still couldn't see where he was falling. By the time he could see, all he saw was a large sand dune, and he was going to crash-land onto it.

**Change of scene**

"If you say out loud what you wish for, it won't come true." Zero told this to Iris, even though he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"Oh. Well then, I guess we will have to wait for the wish to come true." Iris giggled softly.

Zero wondered what Iris was giggling about. He didn't notice the rock on the ground. The bike hit the rock and it tipped over. Zero quickly leapt out of the bike with Iris in his arms. The bike fell onto the ground with a few scratches on its paintjob.

"That was a close one..." Zero sighed.

Iris smiled and said, "My wish came true. I always wanted to know what it was like to be held like this..."

Zero finally noticed he was holding Iris closely. He blushed and Iris giggled.

"You can put me down now, O Knight in Shining Armor!"

Zero smirked and set Iris back down. After he did, he macho-posed. Iris laughed, and then yawned. She grabbed Zero's face softly and slowly drew his face closer to hers. Zero closed his eyes and expected a kiss.

"You better wake up..." Iris kissed him on the cheek instead.

**Change of scene**

A lone Condoroid pecked Zero on the cheek, mistaking him for leftover scraps. This hard peck woke Zero up from his dream. With a swift hand movement, he swatted the Condoroid away and sat upright.

The storm had subsided, and everything was in clear view now. He was sitting in front of a sign that said, "Welcome to Red River City!" Behind the sign was a bustling city. The houses appeared to be made out of wood, and the signs on the buildings were hand-painted with the words "Saloon" and "Sheriff." Tumbleweed rolled out on the city "street" and reploids wearing cowboy hats were talking with each other. Zero stood up and looked around for the hover bike. It was behind him. Fortunately, it wasn't broken. Unfortunately, it was buried under a large pile of sand, and that didn't help make it look nice. Zero decided to park it there and walk into the city.

Red River City closely resembled an old town back in the Wild, Wild West days. Zero was amused by the reploids wearing hats with odd, Western accents. He would have laughed out loud, but he noticed almost every reploid had a magnum or a shotgun attached to them. He knew when to keep his mouth shut. Besides, he had other important tasks to do, like to find that cloaked "RR" figure. A nearby building that had the "Saloon" sign on the top caught Zero's interest. There were loud shouts coming from inside the building, so he assumed there were reploids there.

As he walked up the couple of steps, he sidestepped out of the way of a reploid being thrown out of the door. Zero looked at the reploid and offered a hand to help him up. The reploid was knocked out cold, so it didn't help much. This didn't intimidate Zero, but he would regret it if he started a fight in a place like this. He pushed the two swinging doors opened and walked into the Saloon.

There was more life in the Saloon than outside. Reploids were gambling at the wooden tables while other reploids were hiding in the corner injecting NEF (narcotic energy fluid) into their systems. Others that were on the stools drank Enerages (alcohol for the average reploid). Drunk, the ones who drank punched each other playfully at first, and then they started brawling for real. Others, drunk and half-sober alike, were cheering them on. The bartender looked carelessly at the fight then back to cleaning his glasses.

Zero shook his head and looked around for a cloaked figure. He saw one person who was cloaked, but in the chair it was sitting in, he couldn't see the back or not. The figure turned around and gestured Zero to come over and sit. Zero was surprised that the figure saw him, but nevertheless, he walked over to the table the figure sat in. He sat himself down in a chair across the table facing the cloaked figure. _Not him._ Zero never saw the RR figure's face, but he knew who was who. In this case, the figure he was talking to now wasn't the RR.

The figure in front of him wore a cloak with a hood, but Zero could see that under the hood the figure wore a hat, and had gray hair cascading down on both sides of his head. His hat was tipped over his eyes, so Zero didn't have a good view.

The figure must have noticed Zero observing him, because the figure said, "I didn't think the legendary maverick hunter Zero would be in these parts."

The brown ragged cloak Zero wore didn't help much to conceal his appearance. At least the reploids didn't pick a fight with him yet. He wanted to know how this reploid knew Zero, but he decided not to ask him. Instead, he cut right to the chase.

"Have you seen a cloaked figure with an 'RR' symbol on its back?"

The cloaked reploid rubbed his chin with his right hand, which was gloved. Then the reploid smirked and said to Zero, "How about a quick round of Poker?"

"As long as you tell me what you know, first." Zero had no time to play games.

"Alright. The 'RR' symbol you speak of is the insignia of the Red Revolvers."

"The Red Revolvers?" Zero was curious.

"Yes. They are a notorious gang who usually roam the streets and rob reploids. Recently, they've been serving for a higher pay for an organization." The cloaked reploid rubbed his chin again. "I think it was called Reploforce."

Zero's eyes widen. Just the information he didn't think he would hear but useful anyway. He bolted upright from his seat and demanded, "Where are they?"

The reploid held up his hand as a gesture for Zero to calm down. Then he smiled under his hat and said, "Hold on, Maverick Hunter. Don't you remember the game you promised?"

"Where are they?" Zero repeated himself.

"Beat me and I'll tell you exactly where they are located." The reploid smiled again.

"Fine."

The cloaked reploid grabbed a deck of cards from under the table and shuffled quickly. His speed was reckless, but the grace and effortless motion of his fingertips and hands were a symphony. Afterwards, he dealt himself and Zero five cards each.

Zero knew how to play Poker. At the Resistance, the soldiers would play card games to pass the time on breaks. Zero would never join in, but he would observe how to play and learn. He never thought he would ever need to play, though. He discarded three cards and picked up three more. Zero had four aces in his hand and a three of hearts. He kept his Poker face on, but he was overjoyed that his luck would cash in.

The cloaked reploid, however, discarded his entire hand and picked up a new hand. He smirked, but he was smirking to Zero. Then he said, "Okay. What do you got?"

"Four aces." Zero slammed the cards on the table. "Read 'em and we-"

"Straight Flush." The reploid showed Zero his hand, which had a perfect two-three-four-five-six flush.

"..." Zero looked down at his cards and smirked. "Well, I guess you won that one..." When he looked up, the cloaked reploid had disappeared. Zero looked left and right but didn't find him. Then he noticed that next to the cloaked reploid's hand, there was a sixth card. On the back of the card, there was a picture of a spider on it. Zero picked it up and looked on the other side. It read, "Follow the white rabbit."

Zero immediately looked at where the stools were. He smirked when he saw a female reploid wearing a skimpy white bunny rabbit outfit. The males that were drunk hooted and whistled as she drank. She flipped her hair and caught a glimpse of her watch. She didn't pay for the drink and walked out of the Saloon. Zero quickly got up and followed after the white rabbit.

**Change of scene**

Although most of the buildings in this city were made of wood and had a Western theme, there was one tall pavilion in this city. It resembled a tower almost, with multiple floors. A cloaked figure walked towards the glass screen door. When he got close enough, the doors automatically slid apart and let the figure in.

Inside the building, there was a scanner and two reploids wearing hats and bandannas that concealed their mouth. The figure simply flipped the side of his cloak and showed them a RR symbol. The guards nodded to each other and said in unison, "Welcome back Boss."

"Yeah. He should be here any minute now." The cloaked figure spoke.

The first guard raised a brow and said, "Don't you mean 'she' Boss? The bunny?"

"No. I'm talking about Zero. And yes, the bunny should be here soon. Prepare for an assault."

The cloaked figure waved away his hand and the guards faced forward again. As he did, he stopped and said to the guards without looking at them, "If you do actually manage to injure Zero greatly, bring him up to me. I want him for myself."

"Yes, Boss." The two guards said.

Under the hood, the figure smirked and went towards the elevator. As he walked, he past by marbles pillars near the walls of the lobby. The walls and the floor were also made of this dark green-blue color. The figure waited for the elevator doors to open. When they did, he stepped into the elevator. He pressed a button and the doors closed.

**Change of scene**

The bunny walked (Zero wondered why she didn't hop) to a tall building. The RR symbol was marked on the front of the building, stories high. He didn't need to try to follow her furtively, because she didn't bother to look back. When the bunny reploid stepped close enough, the glass doors slid open. The bunny walked inside. The guards hooted at her and she smiled. The second guard slapped her ass as she walked by, and she giggled. The guards continued to hoot as she made her way to the elevator.

Zero found this arousing. Then he remembered what he was here for. He looked at his armor and noticed it was his regular red. So he switched forms. He transformed into the X form, since he didn't want to wear red in front of the Red Revolvers. Casually, he walked through the glass doors and walked up to the scanner. It started beeping.

The first guard stepped up to Zero and asked, "What do you got in there?"

Zero wore his ragged cloak, so it hid his Z-buster and his pistol. "Uh..." Zero tried to think of a plan.

The guards exchanged glances at each other and then said, "We are going to have to check what you got."

Zero heard that the Red Revolvers were muggers, and he did not want to get mugged. In an act of brutality, he thrust-kicked the first guard. He fell to the floor clutching his stomach. The second guard drew his revolver and aimed to shoot Zero, but Zero reacted faster and shot three buster shots at the second guard under his ragged cloak. Those shots hit the guard in the chest, and he staggered back. Zero then drew out the pistol he had and pulled the trigger. This time, a green buster came out, but it hit the weapon the guard had instead of where Zero had aimed. The shot disappeared into the revolver.

Zero was dumbfounded that it didn't do anything. The guard smirked and aimed his revolver at Zero. Just then, the shot materialized out of the revolver and went back into Zero's pistol. Both stared at it oddly. Then Zero pulled the trigger again and this time a red shot came out and blew the guard's head off.

"Whoa." Zero was impressed.

The guard that he knocked down aimed his revolver at Zero. He pulled the trigger and fired. The shot hit Zero in the back, and he collapsed to his knees on the ground. He was in Defense form now. He didn't take much damage because he transformed before the shot hit. It still hurt, though. Before the guard could fire another shot, Zero turned to the guard and fired a shot with the pistol. It headed for the head, and off it went.

Zero realized that the pistol shot a buster shot like a revolver. _It copied the gun from the guard._ Zero smirked. _I'll call it the "Copy Shot."_

Zero didn't have time to admire the capabilities of the pistol, because the elevators doors opened and more Red Revolvers burst through the door, guns blazing. Most of the shots missed their mark, so Zero used this opportunity to roll to the side and hide behind a pillar. The Red Revolvers then shot at the pillar Zero was hiding behind. The shots careened off the pillar and some broke marble off the pillar. Although they didn't penetrate the pillar yet, Zero could feel the marble crumbling.

Zero reloaded both his Z-buster and his pistol. He also changed into X form. Before the entire pillar fell, Zero leaped in the air and literally flew to the other side of the lobby. As he did, he fired several shots. When he was firing, he dodged many shots because he was able to detect the buster shots and avoid them in mid-air. All of the shots met their mark, and most of the Revolvers were shot in the chest or head. The others were injured and unable to fire as quickly as they did.

With that attack, he made it to the other pillar on the other side of the lobby. Reinforcements came out of the elevator again, and now they decided to approach Zero before they were going to attack. Zero was able to hear their footsteps over the cover-fire, so he thought quickly of a plan of attack. On his left side, there was a marble wall. Zero smirked and ran towards the wall. The Revolvers saw this, and they shot without haste. Before the shots could even reach Zero, he took a step on the wall. With his other leg, and pushed it up and started to run on the wall. The run turned into a wall-dash. During this, he avoided many shots and fired some of his own. Now these shots were aimed at their heads, and they all met their mark.

Zero finally landed, and there were still some left. He ran towards them, approaching a wounded Revolver. The others fired, and Zero grabbed his body and used it as a shield. The blasts damaged the wounded Revolver's body and absorbed the shots. Zero was charging his Z-buster during this time, and when he threw the body away, he fired a Blast Shot. The shot hit a Revolver in the center, and when the shot made contact the blast radius burned the nearby Revolvers. And those were the last batch.

Zero blew the smoke coming out of the gun barrel and pressed a button near the wall. The elevator doors opened. Zero casually walked in and pressed the "Close doors" button. When the doors closed, a piece of marble fell on a Revolver still alive and knocked him out.

Zero pressed the button for the highest floor, but the elevator ignored his request and brought him to the next floor. This floor was only a narrow hall, and on the end of it was a door. Zero figured that the elevator he took could only reached this floor, so he dashed to the door. There were also doors on the side of this hall, and Zero wondered what they were for. His answer came when Revolvers rushed out of some of the doors and started firing. Zero threw his cloak to blind the Revolver's aim. They all shot the cloak and tore it apart. Zero, however, had already leaped above them and fired shots in mid-air. The Revolvers were caught by surprise, and the shots pelted through their bodies as if they were tissue paper.

When Zero landed, he thought to himself, _These Red Revolvers have powerful weapons, but they don't wear any armor._ He walked gingerly towards the door and was about to open it, but he stopped. Then he dashed into the door and aimed his Z-buster and his pistol to his left and right side. Without looking, he fired shots to both of his sides and hit two Revolvers trying to surprise attack Zero when he entered the door. They both fell dead.

There was a small counter when Enerage drinks on it. Zero scoffed. _No wonder they can't hit me; they're punch-drunk._ Just as he thought that, a powerful charged shot hit Zero in the back. The force of the shot caused Zero to fly into the counter. Zero turned around, injured, and saw a Revolver with a large cannon. Three more Revolvers came after him and started to fire. Zero leaped behind the counter and avoided their shots. The Revolver with the cannon began charging for another shot. This time, he would blow up the counter.

Zero had to think of a plan fast. He couldn't confront them head-on because he injury would slow him down, and that cannon could blast him away at any given moment. Then he noticed an Enerage bottle next to where he sat. Now he had a plan. Zero turned around and shot at the counter. The shots went through the counter and hit the Revolver's legs. This distracted them from taking aim. Then, Zero threw the bottle of Enerage in their direction. The bottle flew towards their direction, and the Revolvers looked dumbfounded. Before it landed, Zero fired a shot from his pistol aiming for the bottle. The shot hit the bottle a few inches from the Revolver's faces. It made contact and made a large explosion (Enerage has a high flammability). That explosion took out the Revolver armed with the cannon and the others.

Zero struggled to get up. The elevator door was a few feet away, but Zero's vision started to blur. He was losing some blood (A/N: Lack of better term.), and it dripped onto the floor. He knew what he had to do. He opened the elf container and selected a Nurse Cyber-elf. That elf was Parick.

"Hey Zero! I can completely heal you!" Parick flexed his muscles, posing macho-like.

Zero nodded weakly. Parick started to fly around Zero sprinkling glittering dust on Zero's back. Then Parick disappeared into Zero's back. Now he was completely healed. Zero's sub-tank was empty, so he had no choice but to use a Cyber-elf. He always was uncomfortable using each elf, but he knew they wanted to be used that way. He shook it off and stepped into the elevator.

When the elevator reached at the highest floor, the doors slid open. Zero stepped out of the elevator expecting an attack or an ambush, but there weren't any. All he saw was the cloaked figure standing in front of a window. The cloaked figure turned around and faced Zero.

"Well, the legendary Maverick Hunter never disappoints. That was a pretty cool performance you had back there." Under his hood, the figure smirked.

"I think it's about time you show your true self." Zero crossed his arms.

"Alright."

The cloaked figure grabbed his cloak and threw it off. He was a reploid with black armor and a helmet. However, two spikes of hair stuck out behind his ears, and he had a notable scar that ran from his right eye down to his mouth. An obnoxious smirk ran across his face.

"And you are?" Zero asked.

"The name is Axl."

Red Revolver Leader

**Axl**

"I suppose you're the leader of the Red Revolvers and working for Reploforce." Zero twirled his Z-buster and his pistol. "Give me those weapons back."

Axl laughed at Zero. "You expect me to give them up that easily? Heh. Well then, I'll give you what you want to know after you beat me."

"Whatever makes you talk." Zero loaded both of his guns.

"We'll start this the old-fashioned way. Meet each other's backs and 10 paces before fire." Axl drew two guns of his own. _Good 'ol Red Magnums._

The two walked up to each other and stood back-to-back. Then they starting counting paces.

"1....2....3....4....5...." Axl started.

"6....7....8....9....10!"

By the time the count was up, Zero was near the elevator door. Quickly, he stepped on the wall and dashed up the wall. Doing so, he was able to avoid two powerful red shots. They were as strong as charged shots, but Axl never charged his Magnums. Zero didn't have time to think this over, so he jumped off the wall and turned to Axl, firing several buster shots.

Axl rolled to the side and dodged the shots, and he shot two more charged shots. One missed Zero by an inch while the other got him. The impact from it threw Zero into a wall. Axl aimed his Magnums at Zero again and fired. There was a slight recoil time between each shot, but Axl didn't care. Zero drew his Shield Boomerang and tried to reflect the shot. The shot wasn't reflected, but it canceled the attack out.

Then Zero aimed his pistol at Axl and pulled the trigger. A green buster shot came out and disappeared into one of Axl's Magnums. Axl recognized the shot. Before he could react, the green buster materialized out of the Magnum and went back into Zero's pistol. Zero pulled the trigger again and out came a charged red shot. Axl had no time to dodge it and was hit, but he stood his ground. The shot made a smoke cloud. Axl ran out of it and threw his Red Magnums away. He ran to the side of the room and pounded a button. A large cannon came out of a hidden compartment in the wall. Axl grabbed the cannon and charged it up.

Zero quickly got up and ran along the wall. Axl fired several Red Plasma Shots with the cannon, but Zero was in Active form and was able to barely outrun Axl's aim. After those shots, Axl had to charge the cannon up again. Zero took this opportunity to draw out his Z-saber and dashed towards Axl. He slashed vertically in Axl's direction, but before the Z-saber could slice Axl, he disappeared. Zero completely stopped and looked around. Axl, however, did not disappear but only activated his cloaking ability.

Zero realized this and saw Axl's outline of his body, but he was too late. Axl had two more Red Magnums on him and fired them both point-blank range at Zero. The Legendary Maverick Hunter was blasted into a wall and was covered in a cloud of smoke. Axl deactivated his cloaking ability and ran towards the center of the room and pressed a switch on the floor. Two large minibusters (miniguns) and held one in each hand. He pulled the large triggers and shot repeatedly at the smoke cloud Zero was in. This made it bigger and blew smoke throughout the room. Then the minibusters overheated. Axl threw them away and reached for his Red Magnums. He twirled them with his fingers and smirked.

"The Legendary Maverick Hunter Zero is already beaten? Man, that sucked!" Axl laughed heartily, but when the smoke cleared, Zero was still standing. Three glittering objects were circling around Zero.

"Don't get so cocky, kid." Zero smirked and said to his Cyber -elves, "Bomgro, Bomserow, Bomphew, Bomblow, go!"

The lead Cyber-elf said to the others, "Super Cyber-elf Kamikaze Attack!" All four of the Elves flew towards Axl. He held up his arms to shield himself, but all four exploded on contact and completely blew Axl's armor to dust. When the smoke cleared, Axl was on the ground, balancing himself on one knee.

He smiled weakly and said, "All right. You win."

Zero wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Okay. Give me back the weapons and I'll let you live."

Axl laughed and said, "I suppose my plan backfired. Fine, I'll let you have those Red Alert weapons back. I guess even Red Alert's best member can't beat Zero..."

"What? You were in Red Alert?"

Axl smirked and said, "Yeah. Well, I was. You heard of Red Alert? I figure you would, since you were snooping around there."

"How did you know I was...?"

"Well, the Resistance was anyway. I thought you were in the Resistance, so I hid my old pistol there as bait to lure you in. Then I would get my shot at you, Zero."

"You did this just to fight me?"

"Kind of. Those Reploforce bastards forced me into this..."

"How?"

"Heh. Well, after the Sigma Wars ended, X built that Neo Arcadia shit-hole. When he did, he started retiring reploids. He went after Red Alert and leveled the damn place. Everyone was gone. I was the only one left." Axl's smile faded. "I got angry at X for that, and I wanted to kill him. I knew that I wasn't strong enough. I was about to go and die, but then I found some of my other buddies that survived. We decided to rebel against this reploid extermination and form a gang."

Zero crossed his arms.

"So that's how the Red Revolvers got started. The time flew by when that happened, and then I heard that some reploid was single-handedly fighting the Neo Arcadia. It was you, Zero."

"So you heard about me?"

"Yeah. I wanted to fight you badly. If I could defeat you, I would be ready to take on X. But I could never find you. That is, until Reploforce showed up. They came and retired all of my buddies and were about to finish me off." Axl clenched his fist. "They let me live if I served them and helped them destroy the Neo Arcadia. As much as I didn't like it, I didn't want to die. So I joined them.

"So they hired some loonies as my gang members, but they weren't my buddies. I figured this was the only way to get to you. I don't care about this war or exterminating humans..."

"Wait, Axl. Tell me what Reploforce plans to do."

"I don't know much, but I know where that information is located. It's in a database. I had the password on the Red Alert computer. That is where your information lies." Axl smiled again. "Well, I could die without regrets, now that I've known I finally fought against you."

"What do you mean?"

"He comes for me. Run while you can, Zero. Get away before He comes!"

"Who?"

A large cloaked figure hovered behind the window. It carried a large scythe. And had bright yellow eyes under its hood. It raised its scythe above Axl's head.

"It's been fun, Zero." Axl smiled sadly.

"No! Axl!" Zero ran to Axl.

It was too late. The scythe slashed through the window and the figure decapitated Axl. His head rolled on the floor. With its large yellow eyes, it fired two lasers and blew up Axl's body. Zero watched in horror as Axl's head rolled to his feet.

"Later, Zero..." Axl's eyelids glazed over his eyes. His mouth hung open. Zero picked up Axl's head. It felt like a hollow, empty shell. It was.

"You..." Zero charged towards the cloaked figure but it laughed and disappeared. It was pointless now. Axl was dead. Zero found the container on Axl's desk, and the two Red Magnums Axl had used in battle. He picked up Axl's head and picked up the cloak Axl wore. He wrapped his head with the cloak and set it on the desk. He placed the two Red Magnums next to it and he picked up the container.

"Rest in peace, friend." Zero walked out of the room.

**Change of scene**

"Hey, Zero!" Max ran up to Zero as he was walking in the hall. Zero turned around and greeted Max.

"Hey." Zero said, tersely. He didn't feel like talking after what had happened, but he tried to get over it.

"So, how was the mission?"

"It was successful. I had some trouble, but nothing too difficult."

"Yeah, !"

Zero saw something in Max. He couldn't put his finger on it, but somehow Max reminded him of Axl. Then he knew what to do.

"Max. Take this." Zero handed Max the pistol. "You will need this for training."

Max's eyes glistened. Now he was as giddy as a boy on Christmas morning. He grabbed the pistol and immediately started posing with it.

"Th...thanks, Zero! With this, I can beat anybody! I can beat X! Or those Neo Arcadian generals! Maybe I could even beat you, Zero! Er...I didn't mean that..." Max laughed and ran off to try it out.

"Don't get so cocky, kid." Zero smiled.

Author: Whew! Sorry if I took longer than usual to update. I had schoolwork and sudden urges to be lazy! This chapter was originally going to be parted, but I grew tired of typing _Chapter: Part 1 _or _Chapter: Part 2_. So, I just wanted one large chapter. This is a turning point in my writing, so I'm trying to be more descriptive and added more story elements than action scenes. Please read and review! I'll update soon!


	8. Phantom Reloaded: part 1

Author: Another chapter to type, another addition to the story. Thank you readers and reviewers that make my job more enjoyable. Okay, so those silhouettes are not those guardians associated with Dr. Weil in MMZ3, but they are something else. What are they? Well, you will have to wait for that. Props to Ligar for pointing out my _Matrix_ and DBZ allusions. Yes, I had recently watched _Matrix Reloaded_ for the second time and I just _had _to quote from DBZ. The pistol Zero had was the original one Axl used, and the feature it had was the Copy Shot ability. Where does the story go from here? Read on and find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Disclaimer: I do not own MMZ or the Megaman series. Those rights belong to Capcom. Any characters that I make up are my own.

_Phantom Reloaded: Part 1_

**"Here's the database location for Reploforce's plans." Zero tossed the disc onto Ciel's desk. The container with the weapons in them was on her desk already, but Ciel wasn't concerned with that at the moment.**

Earlier before he came back to the Resistance, he had already stopped by the old Red Alert base to download the data. However, the information there was only the location of the plans. The plans could not be accessed from an outside link.

"So, then how would we access these files?" Ciel scratched her head. She had already inserted the disc and opened up the file, but a firewall blocked the plans. It could not be hacked through, and there wasn't a password system. The files were completely locked out.

Ciel clapped her hands together, suddenly remembering something. "Oh, Zero! There was a new group of reploids joining the Resistance. They just came in by truck, so can you escort them in?"

"Sure. I got it." Zero got up and opened the door.

Surely enough, a reploid was already standing in front of the door when Zero opened it. He seemed like a small boy, and had short orange hair. He wore large specs about almost the size of his entire head, and he was considerably short. Zero almost walked over him, not seeing where he was.

The boy fixed his specs and said with a glib voice, "I suppose you are looking for the new reploids. Before you ask, yes, I am one of them. The rest are in the repair rooms; they were injured on the way here. An attack of some sort, but no casualties." His specs tilted to one sides and he grunted, fixing them once more.

Zero was impressed with the ease and carelessness in his voice when he spoke of the others being attacked. He didn't know whether this boy was calm or just didn't care. Ciel walked behind Zero and bent down to level with the boy.

"Hello there! And you are?" She had a sort of cutesy voice, as if she were cooing a child.

The boy noticed this, but he acted oblivious to it and said promptly, "My name is Dex. I am a former computer and data operator for a local reploid company. Recently, I have created several programs to optimize the effectiveness of the average computer."

Dex turned to Zero and glanced up and down, examining Zero's body. "If your body structure wasn't designed in the masculine form, I would say with the hair tied in a ponytail you would resemble a female reploid."

_This kid likes to talk. And why does _everybody _comment on my ponytail?_ Zero crossed his arms. "Well, if you know so much about computers, can you help us with this dilemma we have? We've been trying to access these files, but some firewall blocks us. We tried everything to penetrate it, but nothing works."

Dex immediately took a chair and sat himself in front of the computer. He didn't touch the keyboard, he just observed the monitor. He rubbed his chin and then he shot a finger up in the air. "The firewall is strong enough to make sure an outside link does not get through. In other words, there is nothing we can do here."

Zero cursed under his breath and Ciel sighed deeply. Dex grinned, however.

"There is nothing we can do _here._ The methods you have tried are from the outside world, trying to approach this indirectly. If we were to destroy this firewall from the _source,_ then there wouldn't be anything blocking the data. So, we have to go _into _the High-speed Super Information Highway."

Zero raised a brow. Ciel, however, understood what Dex meant and agreed whole-heartedly. Still, Ciel had her 'cooing' voice.

"So, I guess we should send somebody into the Net? But how would we do such a thing?" Ciel pondered this.

"Simple. We use a conductor able to transfer data from a source in the outside world and transfer it into the Net. I have such a device. The reploids who were carrying my supplies should be here shortly. That is, if they get here fast enough."

On cue, a bundle of reploids were lugging boxes, which were apparently heavy since they were grunting and sweating. Zero chuckled and took two boxes under each arm and set it in Ciel's lab. The young scientist wanted to object and was about to, but the boxes were already set.

Zero opened up the boxes and there were several parts of a device of some kind. Dex hopped out of the seat and looked into the box. He whistled and Sam came running into the room.

"Sam, will you assemble these parts?" Dex fixed his specs.

"Sure thing kiddo." Sam cracked his fingers and started to take out parts from the box and assemble them. While he was doing so, Dex went over the process to Zero, since he would be the one to exterminate this firewall.

"This device will download your internal data into the Net. I do not know if you are familiar with this, but the Net is a place where information travels fast and abroad. Basically, we are sending you _inside_ the computer. You won't be able to use your weapons in these, but you will be able to use my upgrades for you. I will download these in chips. If you want, I will try to download weapon data as well, just tell me what weapons."

Zero was about to tell Dex the four weapons he already had, but he thought about it again. He couldn't explain it, but he felt like he would need the Triple Rod for this situation. It was a gut feeling. "Z-saber, Z-buster, Shield Boomerang and Triple Rod."

Dex nodded and sat down again to configure the chips. Sam was still setting the parts together, and the reploids that brought in the boxes were catching their breath. Ciel took this opportunity to spend some quality time with her savior.

"Zero, do you want to walk around?"

"Consider it a date."

Zero grinned and held out his arm for Ciel to hold on to. She smiled and locked arms with him and out they walked.

**Change of scene**

"Hah! Rah! Sonic Boom!" Harpuia shot three Sonic Booms into the air. The emerald guardian leaped into the air and held both of his sabers together in an 'X' formation. "Thunder Strike!" A purple bolt of lightning shot out both of his sabers and hit the ground. Harpuia frowned and burst with green energy. Enveloped with it, he fell back down to the ground and stomped hard. The green energy spread along the ground in waves, picking up dust and shaking the platform.

He was in his Temple of Wind, which was unlike a regular temple. You could take the stairs and climb up to the top, but the top is only a platform suspended in the air. The area where Harpuia trains is the top, which is like an arena in the sky. The winds usually blow fiercely, but he was used to it now. Today, the winds were roaring. It was too cold to break a sweat, but Harpuia did nevertheless.

_Faster...got to be faster! _Harpuia activated his communicator link. "Send in the target!"

The target wasn't a target. In fact, it was a strong steel wall. It was made of a sort of steel that could not be split or destroyed by beam sabers or beam weapons of any kind. Harpuia, however, didn't think so and thought he had penetrate this obstacle that stood in his way. He was working on a new attack, but so far he didn't perfect it yet. With a slight grin on his face, he flew back up and had the steel wall in his sights. He planned to shred the wall into pieces using this new attack.

"Flying Izuna Corkscrew!"

Green energy surged throughout his entire body until it began to strain. Knowing that the time was right, he activated his beam sabers and flew top speed towards the wall. He spun around and held out his sabers. Harpuia was spinning so fast that the beams couldn't keep up and began to swirl around. It was so fast that the armor he wore was beginning to rip, but he didn't stop. He kept going until he made contact with the wall.

The attack dented the wall, but he didn't shred it or break through it. Instead, he shattered his helmet because his head made direct contact with the wall. Nearly knocked out, he deactivated his boosters and fell from above high and hit the ground face-first. He rose up, wiping the dirt off of his face and fixed his green hair. Since the helmet was broken, his hair was let loose. He spit out some blood and ignored it coming out of a wound from his head.

_Must get stronger. Fight faster. Fight harder. Push myself!_ He wanted to fight harder than he did when he was controlled and fought Zero. So far, his body strained and started to give out. Harpuia was not used to fighting so recklessly, but now he was training himself to get used to the strain. He felt weak as of now, knowing that when he was a subordinate he fought harder than when he was free of his own will. He repeated the pattern he trained to, whether his armor broke or not.

_I must perfect this attack! I must fight Zero and beat him!_ He felt that he didn't deserve a rematch just yet. He wanted to prove to Zero that he had improved, so he tried to perfect the Flying Izuna Corkscrew. He was bleeding all over his face and his green hair was soaked with blood, but he didn't give a damn. He flew towards the wall one more time. He spun around again like a corkscrew with more velocity. The emerald guardian thought he had it, but when he made contact with the wall all he remembered was hearing a loud crack. The sun was setting.

**Change of scene**

"I love sunsets!" Ciel sipped her cup of tea while watching the sunset with Zero. She sat on a hill in the desert area not far from the base. Zero stood over Ciel watching the sunset with his arms crossed. A gentle breeze made his blond ponytail flutter with the wind. He didn't want to admit it, but the sunset was beautiful. Ciel suddenly stood up and checked her watch. When she did this, Zero liked it. The way she raised her eyebrows looking at her watch made her cute in a way. Zero liked this, especially when she was late and her eyes grew wide with surprise. In this case, it happened.

"Zero! We have to head back! They should be done already!" She grabbed Zero's hand and tried to pull him back to base, but she wasn't strong enough.

"Hop onto my back." Zero pointed to his back and Ciel jumped on. Like a medic carrying a wounded soldier, he piggybacked Ciel all the way to the base. She enjoyed this, but she also enjoyed brushing her face against Zero's blond hair. Zero, however, was enjoying something else. Ciel pressed her chest against his back, and he could feel her soft...

Zero tripped on a rock. Before he could fall, he turned and held Ciel up to make sure she wouldn't hit the ground. He fell hard on his back. Ciel giggled and said, "Thank you, O Knight in Shining Armor!" Ciel was sitting on top of his chest, and he had a perfect view of Ciel under her dress. Zero blushed, and Ciel slapped Zero when she realized this. "Pervert!" She laughed and hugged Zero. Even in the cool desert evening, it felt very, very hot.

When they got back to Ciel's lab, everything was set up. There was a sort of chair set up in the corner of the room. It resembled a dentist's chair for the patients. Zero gulped, but Dex greeted them when they both walked in.

"Ah! Zero, Ciel! I have finished getting the chips ready and the device is set up." Dex pointed to the chair. "Sit yourself in that please."

As Zero did, Dex ran to the keyboard and was typing furiously, but he was only logging onto the Net. Sam was still in the room, and he wired up Zero with many different wires. Then he picked up a plug of some kind. It looked very long.

Sam lifted up Zero's hair and uncovered a small outlet under his ponytail. "This is going to feel a little weird..."

"Huh?" Zero asked.

Sam inserted the plug. For Zero, he felt a sudden shot of pain run through his entire body. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. He didn't hear anything anymore until a bright light blinded him. When Zero opened his eyes, He was in the middle of a city street bustling with people. Or, Zero thought they were people. Most of the 'people' that were in the buildings were actually advertisements. They all looked like a strange figure with a circular head and a regular body. The thing is, they had no face or anything like that. (A/N: The AOL guy) They each yelled out a different thing.

"Free smileys!"

"Win a DVD if you can guess which one is Zero!"

"Warning: You may have MaverickWare installed into your system..."

"Butch or Larry? Vote now!"

"Can't find a date? Visit the online reploid dating service!"

"Neo Arcadia's Leviathan: NUDE! $11.99 per picture!"

"Viagra for reploids: Viagroid!"

Zero reached for his communicator unit, but he didn't have it on. Instead, a small screen appeared before him, and it showed Dex and Ciel on it.

"Zero! Are you okay?" Ciel seemed a little worried.

"I'm fine, but what _is _this place?" Zero scratched his head.

Dex took over the screen. "Zero, welcome to the Net! Or as humans call it, the Internet!"

There were also people as well. Zero couldn't tell whether they were reploid or not, but for a moment it didn't really matter. They all had names over their heads such as "Xxblu3b0mb3rxX" or "AnitaReploid" and other names. The dumbfounded Maverick Hunter wondered what his name was, but he couldn't see. The people that went by waved and greeted Zero. Or at least, greeted his screen name. Others went by and greeted him as well.

"Hello, blondgrl693."

"Hiya, blondgrl693!"

"Sup, blondgrl693."

"Want to cyber, blondgrl693?"

It was pretty obvious that his screen name was 'blondgrl693.' He looked at his little screen and raised his voice.

"Ciel! Dex! What did you guys do?"

Ciel rubbed her chin and put her hand behind her head. "Oh, sorry Zero! That's my screen name. You must have logged in my screen name."

Zero nearly fell over. Then he sighed deeply. _This helps my appearance. Thanks, Ciel._ The Legendary Maverick Hunter now had an alias of 'blondgrl693.' Dex was rolling on the floor laughing. If he weren't in the outside world, Zero would get over there and beat down Dex.

"Har, har. So, where is the damn firewall?" Zero crossed his arms.

Dex wiped away his tears from laughing and fixed his specs. "You have to first meet the Engineer. He is located in a building that has a large neon sign."

Zero didn't have to look far to find it. It was the place where ads went in and out of the door. He minimized his screen and walked towards the building, bumping into other people with screen names. He noticed one that read "Zer0fangrlXOXO." He smirked enjoying the thought that he had a fan. Finally, he was at the door of the Engineer's building. He turned the knob and opened the door.

There was a man sitting on a chair, staring at several monitors. He was tapping his fingers on the armrest of his chair, and switched monitors with a button on the opposite armrest. He sighed and said without looking at Zero, "What do you need, blondgrl693?"

Zero frowned. "Call me Zero. And I need to destroy some firewall. Can you get me over there?"

"Can? Of course I can. It's whether if you are up to it or not."

He didn't have time to play games. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, just get me over there, huh?"

The Engineer sighed and pressed a few buttons. The monitors froze. Then the Engineer slowly got up. He wore a black suit, and apparently aged. He combed his gray hair over modestly trying to conceal the bald spot on his head. It didn't work. He had a short beard, white as the snow. He was chubby and plump, not a jolly old Engineer. Zero could have laughed when he saw him, in spite of himself. The Engineer spoke not a word but went straight to the door. He grabbed the knob and turned it with a jerk.

"Out this way."

"Zero followed closely behind and. When the Engineer closed the door, Zero stared at the hallway. It was seemingly endless, and awfully white. There were several doors, but there weren't any signs or numbers to indicate what room each door lead to. The Engineer didn't need any, however. He already knew which door to go to. He walked towards the right side of the hallway, and Zero followed closely behind. Blondgrl693 turned on his screen.

"Dex, what is this place?" Zero sounded less aggravated, but he didn't like his screen name. Or rather, Ciel's screen name.

"That is the Loading Hall, Zero. That's where you go went you have to load to something. Whether it would be a website or a program, or even offline files, it's in the Loading Hall. By the way, here we are."

The Engineer stopped in front of a door. Surprisingly, it looked exactly the same as the other doors. Zero looked at the Engineer and was about to say something, but the Engineer held up his hand.

"Yes, this is the correct gateway. Or rather, the correct door. Please close it after you are done."

Zero ignored the last remark and opened the door without haste and went inside. On the other side, he was in the middle of a city section. In front of him were a bench and a couple of swings to his left side. To his right, there was another building, but there wasn't anybody in it. The pigeons were eating leftover bread on the ground. The sky was an eerie green. Zero looked around for the firewall, but he didn't see anything except those pigeons. He turned back and was about to ask the Engineer if this was the right door, but the Engineer waved and closed the door.

"Son of a..." Zero ran for the door and began to furiously turn the knob, but it wouldn't turn. He sighed and turned to watch the pigeons until something happened. When he turned around, the pigeons started to fly away. As soon as they all flew away, Zero saw a figure walking towards him. It was a reploid.

The reploid had a white helmet with two small ears coming out of it, but his mouth was covered with a scarf. His white armor extended down to his hips. From there, he wore a white codpiece and white boots with knee guards. He bore a metal sword and balanced a large shuriken on his back.

Author: I had to split this chapter up. Unfortunately, from now on I have to split up my larger chapters. The next one is already posted.


	9. Phantom Reloaded: Part 2

Author: I hate splitting chapters up. My one chapter is too big sometimes, so I have to split it. Oh well. Here's part 2.

Disclaimer: I do not Own the MMZ series or the Megaman series. Those rights belong to Capcom.

_Phantom Reloaded: Part 2_

Ex-Neo Arcadian Guardian

**Phantom**

"Zero."

"Phantom."

The two looked at each other for a long time, standing completely still and in silence.

"Thank you, Zero."

Zero raised a brow. "Thanks for what?"

"For setting me free." Phantom smirked. Zero had never really seen Phantom smile, but it looked like he really meant it. The last time they fought, Zero never really saw Phantom smile, except when he scored any hits. Even then, Phantom's smile wasn't sincere. Now, he really indeed looked happy.

"You see, Zero. When I served under X, I was trapped."

Zero wondered why Phantom didn't refer to X as 'Master X.'

"But you Zero, because of you, you set me free. When I fought you, I had to make sure I destroyed you completely. If I didn't, then I would come crawling back to X and getting lectured or punished on how I wasn't strong to finish you off. I was tired of that shit. I was tired of this and that, 'Make sure the other Guardians don't cause trouble' this or 'Destroy Zero!' that. I was tired of it all. Then you set me free. You gave me the courage to free myself from that shithole."

_There is no courage in killing yourself._ Zero crossed his arms.

"However, I am stilled trapped in a prison. You can see that this 'world' isn't real; it is what people call the 'Internet.' I don't know how or when, but I came back in this place. He told me that I needed a body to get to the real world."

"Who told you that?"

"None of your concern. In any case, I needed a body, fast. Of course, how could I since most of the people here weren't hooked up to the Internet with their own bodies? They didn't use the Matrix system. But you, Zero, you did. You came here to eliminate a firewall, didn't you? Well, you're late. I've already eliminated it."

Zero was surprised that Phantom knew all of this. He was using some kind of device that uploaded his body to the Internet (The Matrix system), leaving it vulnerable. Then he figured out what Phantom intended to do.

"So what you're say is that you want to destroy me and come back to the real world in my body?"

"Precisely."

Zero laughed. The Legendary Maverick Hunter was feeling cocky. He didn't know why, but he felt he had to laugh. He found it ridiculous that Phantom would want to return in such a selfish act. The thought of Phantom serving _himself_ for once humored Zero.

"I always thought you were some lapdog. Now you're just stupid!" Zero laughed heartily.

Another voice came form behind him. "I don't see what's so funny, Zero. You should know that we are capable of beating you easily."

Another voice came from his right. "Now your body is ours."

And yet another voice came from his left. "You can't run and you can't win."

All of those voices were Phantom's voice. Zero looked around and was seeing Phantom left, right, and behind. Two more Phantoms came from the fence and stood behind the first Phantom. Zero couldn't tell which one was the real one anymore.

"Seeing double, Zero?" Phantom #1 chuckled. The rest chuckled with him. "As you can see, it's all about me. I don't need weapons to beat you, for I have myself."

The weapons he held dissolved into numbers and disappeared into the air. Zero instinctively reached for his Z-saber, but he remembered it wasn't there. Before he remembered to turn on his screen, the Phantom in front of him kicked him. The kick had so much force that it knocked Zero into the locked door, several feet away. Zero slowly got up and rubbed his stomach, where the kick landed.

"How did you get so strong?"

"This is the Internet, Zero. Upgrades." The Phantom that kicked him started to dash towards Zero. The other six followed suit.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter never fought many enemies without his weapons, but inside he felt advantageous. He felt that the situation was in his favor, and he cracked his knuckles. With a quick leap, he stepped on a Phantom's head and skipped to another head. He went over them all and landed on the ground behind all of them. He looked forward and saw that five more Phantoms were running up to him.

"Shit." Zero stood defensively.

The Phantom behind him tried to kick Zero in the side, but he grabbed that Phantom's leg. He used him as a weapon to hit all the other Phantoms that came close enough to him, swinging wildly. Soon, he let go of that Phantom and he flew into a couple of other Phantoms, knocking them over like pins.

Two Phantoms approached him and started throwing punches and kicks alternatively. Zero avoided most of these attacks, but got hit twice by one Phantom and then the other one kicked up in the air. More Phantoms were coming out of the fences and joining the brawl. The newcomers leaped in the air with Zero and tried to attack him in mid-air. Zero anticipated this, however, and grabbed the Phantom that was the closest. With a swift throw, the Phantom that he threw knocked over a pile of other Phantoms on the ground.

While he did so, other Phantoms jumped onto Zero from behind. Zero landed on the ground hard, and the other Phantoms started to dog-pile onto him. The pile of Phantoms swallowed Zero up. Suddenly, with a burst of inner strength, he held the entire pile of Phantoms up high and threw the pile to the side. His screen came on and it was Dex, fixing his specs.

"The arm upgrades are already in, I'm downloading a weapon chip right now. Please wa-"

The screen minimized when another Phantom came and punched Zero. Zero blocked, but a kick came out from the side and another Phantom tried to shoulder-tackle Zero. Zero caught the one that tried to do that, and he threw him into the one that punched him. The one that had kicked him tried to chop him this time, using his right arm. Zero countered this by locking his arm with Phantom's, and then snapping it with a swift motion. The elbow bent the opposite direction.

The Phantom cried out in pain, and others came to attack Zero. He held the Phantom he had up as a shield and a weapon at the same time. He swung the Phantom around and, using the dislocated arm as a handle to grip on. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Phantom leaping into the air and getting ready for a flying axel kick. Right before he could hit Zero, he held up the body of the Phantom he had and it absorbed the blow. It hit his neck and broke it, so he was instantly dead. His body dissolved into numbers and disappeared into thin air.

The Phantom that performed the kick landed on the ground, getting his bearings back. Before he did though, Zero rushed up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, still running. He used that Phantom's body as a battering ram to push away all of the other Phantoms. When he got through the crowd, he threw that Phantom into the building next door. With the added strength, he threw him so hard that that Phantom crashed into a window.

Now he stood in front of the large crowd of Phantoms, now with numbers well over seventy. The Maverick Hunter was getting fatigued, and he needed to end this fast. His screen turned on, and it showed Dex.

"Okay, Zero! Triple Rod, battle chip in! Download!" He slid the chip through a slit and it downloaded to the area where Zero was. Materializing from numbers, the Triple Rod was in Zero's hands. He twirled it and then extended it three times, activated its sharp end.

"Leg Enhancements, chip in! Download!"

Zero could feel his weight lift. He felt light as a feather.

"Speed Enhancement, chip in! Download!"

Now he felt lighter than a feather.

"Balance Enhancement, Strength Enhancement 2, Armor Coat 2, Edge Sharpness, Ultimate Buster, chips in! Download!"

"Whoa." Zero said to himself.

He leaped high into the air and fell back down, stomped on a vulnerable Phantom. It was instantly 'deleted,' and the other Phantoms started to attack. Zero stabbed the closest Phantom in the stomach with the sharp end, but before he could disappear, he swung the Rod around with Phantom still on it, hitting multiple Phantoms surrounding them. When the Phantom did disappear, Zero knocked another Phantom's jaw up with the blunt side and cut a Phantom's face behind him.

Then he swung the Rod in a low arch, slicing the legs off of any surrounding Phantoms. The Edge Sharpness enhancement made Phantom's armor feel like tissue paper compared to the Triple Rod's sharp end. The blunt end of the Rod tripped other Phantom's not cut by the attack. Zero planted the sharp end into the ground and balanced himself along with the Rod. He used his arms to keep his grip there but it was also loose. He kicked one Phantom while spinning on his Rod. Then he kicked another. And then another. And then more. He kept spinning along his Rod and kicking the Phantoms that tried to attack. He gained speed as he did this, and he spun so fast that everything was a blur to him.

He pulled out the sharp end and then twirled it in the air. The sharp end sliced several Phantoms into pieces and they all were deleted. But for every one Zero killed, three more took its place. The Phantoms kept piling in and in. And every time Zero knocked them all down, deleted, and then repeated. He was getting nowhere fast.

His screen turned on in the middle of the fight. Once again, it was Dex.

"Zero, I uploaded a Data Eraser into your system. It deletes all the data within your region of space, but you can use it when it's charged. Use it now, Zero!"

Zero threw the Rod like it was a javelin. It speared a whole line of Phantoms and deleted them all before the Rod hit the wall. Now with the Data Eraser uploaded, the Blond Bomber clenched his fist and struck the ground.

"Giga Attack: Data Eraser!"

Waves of green numbers ran along the ground and instantly deleted any phantom in the area. Nearly all of them were gone, except for one. When Phantom noticed he was being spotted, he started to run for the door. Zero drew his Z-buster and aimed for Phantom. He pulled the trigger and his Laser Shot came out right away, thanks to his Ultimate Buster enhancement. The laser pierced through Phantom's chest armor. He crouched, clutching the wound in his chest, and he slowly started to dissolve in numbers.

"I'm not finished with you..." Those were his last words before he completely disappeared.

Satisfied with the results, he turned on his screen and called out, "Okay guys. It's over. Send me back now."

Dex fixed his specs. "Okay, just go to a te-"

The screen turned black. Then he heard a chuckle coming from the screen. He minimized it right away and sighed. He went to the door and hoped it wasn't locked. Surprisingly, it wasn't. He turned the knob and opened the door. He was in the hallway again, but this time there was an end to the hallway. And at the end there was a door. This one looked different, because it had a 'P' written on it. Realizing that the other doors were locked, he tried that door. He turned the knob and opened the door.

**Change of scene**

Fefnir was in his room in the middle of an intense battle playing a shooting game online. Fefnir's character had a large bazooka, and was annihilating everyone else.

"Take that, AnitaReploid! You can't touch this, HarryVGina! What some, LeviL0v3r69?"

When the time was up and the scores were posted, Fefnir had the highest. He leaped up in the air and yelled at the top of his lungs, "I am the GREATEST!"

Before the scores could get sent into his personal record, the screen went black. Fefnir groaned and shook the computer violently.

"No, no, NO!"

Leviathan went into Fefnir's room to see what all the commotion was. She sighed and realized Fefnir was having one of his dramatic video-game moments. She was about to leave when the screen came back on. To their surprise, it showed Phantom. Or rather, myriads of Phantoms, standing along the sideway of a city street and pervading inside the buildings. There were even some on top of the buildings. There were so many.

Harpuia heard the noise and stumbled into Fefnir's room. He had just recovered from the Repair Room, but the emerald guardian still had some injuries. Leviathan added some more when she realized Harpuia was intensely training up to the point where it almost killed him. Now, however, Harpuia still had a neck-guard on, but he could at least walk. He stumbled up to the monitor next to Leviathan and Fefnir, who were mesmerized by the screen.

"What on Earth are you two lo-"

He dropped his jaw when he saw all of those Phantoms.

"Tell me that's a screen saver."

Fefnir snapped back into reality and then said, "What's going on? I'm supposed to be playing my game!"

Fefnir wasn't the only one aggravated. All of the people around the world who were on the Internet had their data stolen by Phantom. They dubbed him the "Phantom Virus." It stole all of their data while they were online. It steals their Internet 'body' and converts it to Phantom's image. Apparently, Phantom nearly took over the entire Internet. Except for one.

"Hey, doesn't Blondgrl693 look a lot like Zero?" Leviathan asked and pointed to the figure on the screen. Everyone who was taken by the virus was watching the biggest online match they have every seen, and it was about to begin.

**Change of scene**

It wasn't raining. It was _pouring._ The sky gleamed a dark green every time lightning struck. The trickles of rain poured onto the city street where he stood, and onto the millions of Phantoms all around him. They were standing on the sidewalk, leaving the entire street clear. The buildings were stuffed with many other Phantoms. Zero didn't know how there were so many, but he knew that Phantom must have distracted him in the earlier fight so he can duplicate himself. Or so he thought.

One Phantom in the crowd standing along the sidewalk walked out of it and stepped into the street. He stood facing Zero, and even in the dark, raining night, he could tell Phantom was smiling under his scarf.

"Zero, welcome back." His smirk grew wider. "We've missed you. You like what I've done with the place?" Phantom looked at his copies and then back again at Zero.

"Your little escapade ends tonight." Zero crossed his arms. "If you intend to have them all take me on, then bring it." He had his Data Eraser almost charged, so he was prepared.

Phantom, however, smiled and shook his head. "Quality, not quantity, Zero. These are just conductors, sending the data I need to myself, since I am the Superior One. It's about time for a rematch. One-on-one." His metal sword materialized in numbers and then fully materialized in his hands. He threw off his scarf. Zero had his Z-saber materialize in his hand. They both held them up, ready to battle. They both started to run to each other holding up their weapons.

When they were close enough, their weapons clashed. Phantom's sword was made of the indestructible metal that couldn't be penetrated by any beam weapons. However, the metal could not go through the beam saber. The sheer impact of the weapons parted the rain around the area they fought in.

Seconds after the clash, Phantom swung low with his sword. Zero leaped in the air and drew his Z-buster. He fired a charged shot in Phantom's direction, but he phased out. The buster shot blew up the ground, sending debris everywhere. Instinctively, Zero thrust his Z-saber behind him, but he stabbed nothing. Then he looked up and realized that Phantom was above him. He was about to attack with the saber, but Phantom kicked it away and slashed Zero in the shoulder. Even with the Armor Coat enhancement, the sword penetrated through a thick amount of armor. Phantom must have upgraded as well, with probably a million conductors.

The saber fell onto the ground. When Zero landed, he was about to run for it, but Phantom threw a large shuriken towards Zero. He rolled to the side and shot another charged shot at Phantom. The Superior One phased again and reappeared in the air. He stayed in the air, however. It was like he's floating. Or flying. Zero looked incredulously, and Phantom smiled.

"You would be surprised what files certain Neo Arcadian guardians leave unguarded, don't you think?"

_Now he can fight like Harpuia, Fefnir, or Leviathan. Great._ Zero shot another charged shot at Phantom.

He didn't need to phase out, but he flew away and then back towards Zero. He was about to fire another charged shot, but Phantom was flying too quickly and shoulder-tackled Zero. Phantom held onto Zero and rammed him into a building.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter kicked off Phantom and re-positioned himself. The Superior One also re-positioned himself. Both of them stood still before any one of them made a move. Raindrops were falling from the cracks on the ceiling. They waited until the first one fell.

Zero twirled his Z-buster and shot another charged shot towards Phantom. Phantom used his metal sword to slice the shot in two and the shots hit the floor, causing it to begin to crumble. Phantom used his ninja abilities to leap up and stand on the ceiling, upside-down. The ground was about to cave in, and Zero was about to fall. Then, he crouched before the ground was about to fall. He clenched his fist and then leaped up, standing on the ceiling. Upside-down.

Both of them were standing on the ceiling with rain pouring up from the ceiling 'floor.' Phantom smirked and said, "You learn fast, Zero."

Zero couldn't believe it for himself. He felt that he already knew that ability, but he couldn't remember where. Perhaps it was long ago. The Legendary Maverick Hunter didn't have time to surf through his thoughts because Phantom dashed and tried to slash him. Zero grabbed the edge of the sword before it could hit him. His hand bled a bit because it was so sharp. He aimed his Z-buster at Phantom's face, however. He was going to pull the trigger, but Phantom was quicker and kicked Zero in the stomach.

Upon the impact, Zero dropped his Z-buster and it fell into the deep abyss below. Phantom saw this opportunity to kick Zero again, but this time it sent him flying out of that building and into another building. Phantom followed Zero, flying at top speed. When Phantom got close enough, Zero used the momentum from the kick and used his hands to balance himself. Then he sprang back and double-kicked Phantom in the face, which shattered the right side of his helmet, where the kick landed.

The so-called Superior One staggered back covering the side of his face. Zero smirked and crouched. The rain was also pouring down from the ceiling in this building as well. Waves of energy parted the rain on the floor as Zero flew straight into Phantom (Dex downloaded Flight Enhancement while Zero was fighting). He flew upwards carrying him up high in the sky.

Phantom broke free of Zero's hold when they were high above the sky. He flew towards Zero at a high speed to slash at Zero, but the Legendary Maverick Hunter knew better.

He spun to the side and spin-kicked Phantom's sword away, and it fell back to the ground far below. Phantom cursed under his breath. Now Zero half-circled widely around Phantom and thrust his body forward with a powerful burst of speed. He shoulder-tackled Phantom hard, and it even cracked Phantom's chest armor. The Superior One didn't take long to recover, and in fact he threw Zero aside to catch his breath.

Cocky as he was, Zero decided to finish this. He flew towards Phantom one more time to finish this. Phantom also wanted to end this, so he caught Zero before he could hit him. The ex-Neo Arcadian guardian grinned as he held on tight and started to fly at top speed...towards the ground! Zero struggled to break free, but Phantom was going so fast that they already hit the ground before Zero couldn't even re-think the thought.

The impact made a large crater and parted the rain. The other Phantoms walked up to the crater and looked inside. The Superior One was standing over Zero, who laid on the ground. Dirt and gravel covered his face, and his armor was shattered. His body was numb, and he may have broken his neck, which severed his mechanical nerves. Now he was paralyzed.

Phantom laughed, and the others joined with him. His large shuriken materialized in his hand, and he held it up high. Now he was going to finish off Zero, and absorb his data. Now he was about to throw it at Zero, but the Maverick hunter's screen turned on. Dex was on it.

"Second Chance, chip in! Download!"

Phantom hurled the shuriken towards Zero. He minimized the screen and was about to destroy Zero. The Second Chance gave him the ability to gain one strip of life, and with it, Zero got up and side-stepped quickly, avoiding the shuriken. Right before it even hit the ground, Zero delivered a very, very strong right hook at Phantom's face. The fist met Phantom's face, and it parted the rain and the impact shattered Phantom's helmet and ultimately broke Phantom's jaw. That blow sent him flying into the ground. Now he had the opportunity he needed. Zero looked left and right, and he found it. His Z-saber was covered with mud and dirt, but it was only a few feet away from him. Zero dived for it and grabbed it. Phantom was already up and charged towards Zero. Blondgrl693 activated his Data Eraser and installed it into his Z-saber. With a swift motion, he threw the Z-saber at Phantom.

"Dodge this!"

The saber was thrown too fast for Phantom to dodge it. It met Phantom's head. The saber dug itself very deep, so deep that it only stopped until the hilt of it touched Phantom's face, and the end of the saber stuck out of the back of his head. He groaned and fell backwards, disappearing into numbers before he hit the ground.

The other Phantoms started to glow. Each one exploded in a bright flash of light. Zero covered his face with his hands. When the bright light diminished, Zero uncovered his face. The crater he was standing in a while ago was gone, and he stood in the same spot on the same street when he first logged in.

The other people waved and greeted him regularly, and the ads were also there. But now they were advertising something different.

"Buy _Phantom: Reloaded _now on DVD!"

"Get your copies of _Phantom: Reloaded_ and a free pic of nudie Levi!"

Zero smiled and turned on his screen and was actually relieved to see Dex and Ciel.

"All right, how do I get out of here?"

Dex fixed his specs and said, "Telephone booth. Collect call."

The Legendary Maverick Hunter pushed through the crowd of people and walked into a nearby telephone booth. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. He looked out and stared at the crowd of people. Before he left, he saw the Engineer waving and smiling in the crowd. Zero was about to wave good-bye, but he noticed the Engineer was standing next to the "Buy _Phantom: Reloaded_ and get your free nudie Levi pic" booth. He laughed out loud and got sent back into the real world.

**Change of scene**

"Zero! Are you alright?" Ciel helped Zero get back up.

Zero had no idea that the damage he received in the Internet would transfer to his body in the real world. He felt numb all over, and he was bleeding on his lip.

"Phantom already destroyed the firewall. Not destroyed, but actually absorbed it. Now the files should be opened up." Zero crossed his arms, but it hurt so bad that he let them hang.

Dex was opening up the file until one of the reploids who was carrying the boxes earlier burst into the room.

"Dex, guess what? There _is _a spoon!" He held up a spoon.

Dex shook his head and said, "Do I care?"

The reploid hung his head and walked out glumly. Dex, Ciel, and Zero laughed and paid attention to the computer. The files were opened and the plans were revealed.

"Oh my..." Ciel covered her mouth.

Author: Whew. Well, another chapter for you all. I want to take this time to point out that I really don't mind if you people flame my fanfic. I mean, I would take my mistakes into consideration and build upon them. Don't worry; I won't get all depressed if you guys slam my fanfic. I'm just saying it would be better for a reader to read this, not like it, then review on telling me why than compared to a reader to read this, not like it, and not respond at all. So, please read and review! The second-half of the story will begin next!


	10. Iris of Her Eyes

Author: I'm back. I haven't update recently because of getting settled into a new house. I read the reviews I have been getting, and I must say I'm inspired to give this story my personal best. Of course, problems about splitting up chapters were due to the horrendously slow connection I had. Now, I have Dick Sucking Lips (DSL. Old joke from middle school) to speed up my Internet connection. Enough about me, here is the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from MMZ. Those rights belong to Capcom. Any created characters such as Dex, Max, Sam, and others are my own.

_The Iris of her Eyes_

**"Oh my..." Ciel covered her mouth, appalled by what she saw.**

They finally managed to get into Reploforce's plans with the help of Zero and Dex. After Zero had gone into the Internet and deleted the Phantom virus, the file was assessable. However, when the file was opened, the plans were more horrific and perilous than any of them thought. The plans were blueprints of a type of weapon. It resembled a space colony on the outside, but the bottom of the "colony" had a large cannon facing Earth. The size of the colony was that bigger than the Sky Lagoon and Eurasia (A/N: Spell check, please.) combined.

"Crap, that is big." Dex fixed his specs.

Zero wrinkled his brow and looked a bit closer at the screen. The design of the weapon looked similar to something long ago. There were amplifiers opened up around the barrel of the cannon, and the entire "colony" had a purple exterior.

"The Final Weapon." Zero said, tersely.

"What?" Ciel asked.

"It's the Final Weapon." Zero pointed at the title on the monitor. "Reploforce must be trying to eradicate the entire human race, so they must plan to use this to fire a shot that could destroy all organic life forms around the entire earth."

Dex looked at Zero incredulously. "That can not be true. There is not enough energy to supply all of that power. They will not be able to find a source to conduct _that _much energy to fire such a weapon."

Zero grabbed the mouse and scrolled down. The words "Dark Elf" appeared in large text.

"They do have one. Whether or not they found it, I don't know, but they are trying to use the Dark Elf to activate the cannon." Zero frowned.

"If they use the Dark Elf, then we are all doomed!" Tears formed in Ciel's eyes. "We have to stop them!" She grabbed Zero's arm and squeezed it. "There must be a way to stop them."

"There is."

Ciel and Zero both looked at Dex.

"How?" They both asked in unison.

"The plans suggest that they do not have _all _of the parts yet, including the Dark Elf. Conveniently, the plans indicate where the locations for the needed resources are. If we beat them to it, we can stop them from completing the Final Weapon." Dex folded his arms and smirked. "Simplistic."

Zero rubbed the back of his head. "So what you're saying is that you're sending me on errands."

Ciel and Dex nodded.

Zero sighed, but then he smirked. "Well then, where's the closest place?"

Dex looked at the screen. "North of here in an old rundown factory. The coordinates are listed here, so I will send them to the Operators." He turned around to tell this to Zero, but he was already gone.

**Change of scene**

"They got the plans?"

An unseen figure spoke in the shadows. The three silhouettes were on their knees before this figure. The tone of voice the figure had wasn't that of an angered voice, but imperturbable to anything. The silhouettes were expecting the aggravated voice. The dimly lit light bulb did not reveal the facial features of anyone's faces. The room only served as the meeting place of these figures.

The large one spoke. "One of our underlings leaked the information to Zero in the middle of the Weapons Smuggling Operation."

The figure held his hand up, as if he were trying to swat away something. "I already know that, I just wanted to know if they got the plans. One of my associates already took care of the underling."

The large silhouette bowed his head, as if a dog were accepting punishment from its master. He knew that he did not want to cross with General Omega on any terms. He knew the figure wasn't Omega, but someone working for him, as did he. He didn't know where Omega really was, but he wasn't going to question his authority.

The female silhouette spoke up after the large one. "Zero is probably after the parts of the Weapon as we speak. Allow me to stop him." She bowed her head after she spoke.

"Permission denied. One of my underlings is already after Zero. Speaking of assignments, you three should already know yours."

The three nodded and stood up. They stepped back into the shadows. After they were gone, the figure started to laugh. His voice changed from the calm, collective voice into a different voice entirely.

"Soon, Omega will be complete." The figure laughed.

**Change of scene**

The old factory was far from intact. Its paint dried and peeled off of the walls. The windows were shattered, cracked, or not there. Inside, there appeared to be no light or anything electronically working. As Zero stood outside of the factory, he was skeptical, thinking that there was no possible way that some part of a weapon as colossal as the Final Weapon could be in that factory. Nevertheless, he kicked the doors open.

The spaces where the windows used to be were the only sources of light. The rays from the sun shot into the factory, giving it spaces of sunlight and darkened areas. For a factory, there weren't any parts of machinery or anything inside. Zero activated his Z-saber to illuminate the darkened area around him. Surely enough, he saw a switch on the far left side of the factory. He flipped it up without hesitation.

The dim lights went on. The shelves that were supposed to have parts were cleared out. Conveyer belts that were stationary didn't have anything on them. There was nothing.

"Parts, eh? I don't see any parts." Zero crossed his arms, but something caught his glimpse. At the end of the factory (it wasn't a large building), there was a lone part, sunbathing under a spot where the sun shone. It was a sort of container, similar to the ones that held Cyber-elves, but it had an odd marking on it. Without a second thought, Zero dashed towards the part.

As he sped closer, he saw somebody lying down on the floor. The person had long brown hair. She wore a blue and red dress, and she had a beret on her head. Zero knew immediately who it was.

**Change of scene**

"Iris! Iris!"

Zero kneeled down to pick her up. She had badly injured after their fight. She used a dark power to try to avenge her brother, but Zero beat her. He had no choice but to. Iris slowly opened her eyes and said weakly, "Zero..."

He tried his hardest holding back the tears. Iris wasn't done speaking, however.

"Zero...please forgive me. I believed in a world where only Reploids can exist. I thought I could help build a place, so I can live there...with you."

She lifted her hand up slowly, trying to touch Zero's face. The Legendary Maverick Hunter grabbed Iris' hand.

"But it can't happen. It's only a fantasy."

Iris smiled, but her smile quickly faded and she slowly closed her eyes. Her hand felt cold in Zero's hand. Her head dropped to the side, lifeless. She was dead. Gone.

Gone forever...

**Change of scene**

_Not again._

Zero held Iris in his arms.

_I will not let this happen again!_

"Iris! Iris!"

Iris slowly opened her eyes. She smiled weakly and opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it. It pained her to try to speak, but she opened her mouth again.

"Zero..."

She looked exactly the same way as she did before she died. Her face expressed sorrow, concealed by a weak, faint smile. Zero shook his head and pleaded.

"Don't die! Not again!" He lost control and tears started to flow down his face.

"Zero...kiss me..." Iris closed her eyes and tried to move her face closer to Zero's.

Zero, on the other hand, grabbed Iris' head and pulled her face closer his. He opened his mouth and kissed Iris. Now that he was reunited with his Love, he thought he would finally fill up that hole in his heart, and melt away the ice inside of him.

But it didn't.

The hole felt like it was expanding, and her lips felt cold. Zero broke apart and looked Iris in the eyes. She had the same face, but the iris of her eyes was a dull gray. He remembered that Iris had the color blue for her irises.

"Oh Zero..." She said.

Zero could feel her arm around his waist.

"Yes, Iris?" Zero asked.

Iris' eyes narrowed, and she smiled a devious smile. Her voice became maculate and the dull gray iris of her eyes glinted.

"You pathetic fool."

"Iris" had grabbed Zero's Z-saber when he wasn't paying attention and activated it. It shot out from his back and came out through his pectoral armor. It pierced through his flesh, and pierced right through his heart. He had been stabbed in the back. The pain pervaded through Zero's entire body and he cried out in pain, but he couldn't hear his own scream.

"Iris" smiled again. "Kiss me, Zero."

"Iris" pulled in Zero's face and kissed him, hard and long. As "Iris" did, her skin started to fold over and change. Her hair turned from brown to white, and her feminine body structure became a masculine structure. Zero had his eyes opened the entire time, and even in pain, he felt utterly disgusted.

The reploid broke apart from Zero and licked his lips seductively. "Mmm...you taste good, Zero." He flipped his white hair and kicked Zero into a wall. Finally, he stood upright. He wore only a black jumpsuit, but it had a hidden reflection of different colors every time light shone on it.

Reploforce Covert Operation Agent

**Camo**

He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe how easily he was deceived. The thought of even toying with his emotions and memories infuriated him. _How dare he toys with me? With my memories? With Iris?_ The heat of his anger burned the pain in his body away.

Zero bolted upright and pulled out his Z-saber from his chest. Blood started flowing where the wound was, but Zero didn't care. He was pushed beyond the limits of normal anger to care. All he could see was Camo, and the blood covering the hilt of his Z-saber. He wanted that blood to be Camo's.

Camo stuck out his tongue in disgust, and swatted the air away with his hand.

"That's nasty! Ewww! You were supposed to be finished!" The playfulness in his voice sprayed oil to the fire inside Zero. He completely forgot about his mission or what he was supposed to do. He forgot about Ciel, the Resistance, and even Iris. All he wanted to do now was to kill Camo.

Despite the wound, he drew his Z-buster from its hoister and fired several shots at Camo. The white-haired reploid changed into a Pantheon Hammer and used its shield to deflect the buster shots. Zero dashed towards Camo and swung the Z-saber with full force. It didn't slice Camo, but it did slice the shield in half. Before he could react, Zero connected with a second saber slash. Thinking quickly, Camo turned into Phoenix Magnion. In that form, he teleported right before the slash could connect.

Camo reappeared behind Zero and tried to ram into him. The Blond Bomber didn't have time to react when Camo rammed him into a wall. Engulfed in flames, Camo grabbed Zero. He turned into Kuwagust Anchus and used his mandibles to crush Zero. Then he threw Zero up into the air. Camo transformed into Harpuia this time, and he held up both of his sabers in an X formation over his head.

"Thunder Strike!"

A bolt of thunder hit Zero in mid-air and shocked the Blond Bomber so badly that the bolt created an explosion when it made contact with him. As the smoke cleared, Camo turned into Copy X and charged up his buster cannon. When the smoke cleared completely, however, he didn't see Zero.

That's because Zero appeared behind Camo and struck him with a fully charged saber attack. Even though Camo could copy appearances of many different reploids, he did not have armor as effective as that. The attack snapped Camo out of his transformation and the resulting wave blew him across the factory. He was stunned, and he nearly broke his back. He coughed and wiped the blood gushing out of his nostrils and spit to the side.

Camo turned to Zero, but before he could even glance at him, the Maverick Hunter kneed him in the face, breaking his nose. Camo's head snapped back, but Zero grabbed his head before it could go anywhere. Then, with overbearing strength, he slammed Camo's face into the wall. As if that weren't enough, he dragged Camo's face along the wall, leaving a trail of missing wall chunks and blood along the factory wall.

He used both hands and threw Camo across the other side of the room. The anger in Zero was cooling off, and now he started to fatigue and feel his wound. Clutching his pectoral wound, he collapsed on the ground, trying to balance himself on one knee. The paucity of vitality was in dangerously low levels, and Zero was starting to lose his vision.

Camo stood up. Even after the punishment from Zero, he still wore a smile. The white-haired reploid wiped the blood off of his face and transformed into Copy X. Using his regenerating power, Camo healed himself substantially. He noticed Zero was getting tired, and he laughed a hearty, girlish laugh.

"Nah-nah! You're all burned out! Now time for some revenge."

Camo transformed into the Legendary Maverick Hunter himself and started to charge his saber. Zero was in no position to do anything, since his wound was wearing him down. Finally, Camo had a fully charged saber in his grasp.

"Take this!"

Camo held up the charged saber above his head. Zero couldn't even see Camo anymore. The white-haired reploid struck Zero with a charged saber attack. The attack struck through his armor and the wound. The energy from that attack blew Zero into the other side of the factory. The Legendary Maverick Hunter landed on the floor with a loud thud. He was bleeding from the mouth, and the wound got even worse.

Camo walked up to Zero and smirked.

"I would finish you off right now, but I want you to die a slow, painful death." Camo pulled out a purple beam-dagger. "Sweet dreams, Zero." Camo stabbed Zero on the other side of this chest. The dagger had a special poison function that slowly erased the target's memory, and ultimately, his data. Zero would die with nothing left. The poison wasn't terribly fast, but it would start working right from the puncture of Zero's body.

Camo laughed at Zero. "Time for me to motor!" He grabbed the part and got ready to teleport away. Just before he could, a bright light shone beside Zero. Max, and seven reploid soldiers appeared before Zero. They all aimed their weapons at Camo.

"All right you monster! Time to stop this!" Max aimed his pistol at Camo.

Camo smiled innocuously and looked to the side. "What, little ol' me? I'm just one reploid while you eight are big, strong burly reploids! What harm could I possibly do?"

"Enough! You hurt Zero, that's what!" Max pulled the trigger and fired a Revolver shot at Camo. The white-reploid easily dodged it and smirked.

"While you may be big, strong, and burly, you guys aren't that smart, are you?" Camo changed into Copy X and shot a charged blast at them. Max and the others all tried to shield themselves, but they knew it wouldn't be enough. Just before the shot could hit them, Zero got up and used his body as a shield to take the attack.

"D-damn..."Zero collapsed onto the floor, completely unconscious.

"Zero!" Max yelled.

"Hah! Oh well! Time to go." Camo activated his portable trans server and was about to retreat with the part in hand.

Thinking quickly, Max saw Zero's Z-saber beside him. He grabbed it and put the hilt inside the gun barrel of his pistol. He fired it, and the Z-saber shot out of the barrel. The saber missed Camo's chest, but it did hit his arm. It impaled his arm, which came off, and the part rolled away to the side.

"No!" Camo tried to grab the part (using his other arm), but he teleported because he activated his portable trans server.

The reploid soldiers went to grab the part, but Max picked up Zero.

"Come on guys! We need to get Zero back to base!" Max and the soldiers teleported back to base with the part and Zero.

**Change of scene**

"Zero..." Ciel held Zero's hand. When Max and the others brought Zero back to the base, he was knocked out. In fact, he was in a coma. The poison function was taking place, and Cerveau tried everything he can to reverse it. They couldn't keep up with the poison, but they bought him some time, giving him a momentary vaccine. However, it would wear off soon, and Zero was still in the coma. In the Maintenance Room, Max, Alouette, and Ciel stood next to Zero's capsule. The fallen Maverick Hunter slept in the capsule as the vaccine took its effects. The others only watched as Zero slept.

"I should have been there...I could have done something!" Max punched the wall.

Ciel smiled weakly at Max. "But you did do something, Max. You made sure Reploforce didn't get the part, and you also saved Zero from being left there."

Max frowned at Ciel. "Saved him? I didn't save him! He's dieing as we speak! Damn it!" The hothead reploid stormed out of the room.

Ciel sighed. "Oh Zero, please wake up. Don't you see we are a mess without you? Don't you see _I'm _a mess without you?"

Alouette held her stuffed animal closely. "Don't worry, Zero will wake up! He's too strong to just fall asleep like that! Just you watch!"

_I hope so..._Ciel rubbed the glass on Zero's capsule. _What happened back there, Zero? Did something bad happen?_

Indeed, something bad had happened back in that factory. Now all Zero could do was search himself before the coma finishes him.

**Change of scene**

That scene. That terrible scene. All Zero could do was just watch. Watch that terrible scene play in his mind, over and over again.

He stood watching his memories. All he could do was watch. He just watched himself fighting Iris. He watched himself pick her up. He watched her die. Before his eyes, she died. Again. And again. That scene played over and over like a broken film, staying on one scene.

Zero couldn't speak. He couldn't move. All he could do was watch and listen. Stand there, powerless to change anything. _No one can change the past._ The powerless Maverick Hunter wanted to die right there. He was about to let his body be taken over by the poison function. It was better than being in stasis, because that way no one can wake you up. He wanted to join Iris.

A large hole appeared under his feet. He was falling into the abyss. He was about to be defeated. He was about to be erased from existence. He fell down. 

                                                                                  Down.

                                                                                                     Down.

_Goodbye Ciel, and the Resistance. Goodbye X, I'm so sorry. Let me die with the dignity I have left._

"When you die, you don't _have _dignity."

Zero stopped falling. The scene changed to the conversation with Harpuia after the fight they had. He felt his own voice speaking to him, as if he was in Harpuia's position.

The scene quickly changed to the fight he had with Leviathan a while ago. She swam through the water with grace and levity. Her little swim was interrupted by Zero's charged saber attack. She felt to the bottom of the room. In defeat, she laughed as if she had won.

"Zero, you strength drives me crazy. I always enjoy the battles we have together." Her look softened. "Zero. Don't die before I could defeat you."

The scene then changed to Fefnir's fight with Zero. The fiery-red reploid shot several Blast Shots at Zero, but he quickly evaded all of them. Then with a tremendous leap, the Legendary Maverick Hunter jumped over Fefnir and struck him with a charged saber attack. Fefnir fell to his knees, but he laughed.

"Man, this is too fun! One day, I'll beat you, Zero! Don't you dare die before then, you hear me?"

A bright light blinded Zero. When he opened his eyes, he found himself watching the memory of himself, reawakening. Ciel was hiding behind Zero. It was when Ciel had reawakened Zero.

"Zero...please protect me." Ciel held onto Zero.

"Alright." The Zero beside Ciel held up his Z-buster.

_That's right. Ciel woke me up so I could help her with the war. So far, it's been a worthless effort._ Zero watched himself lead Ciel through the Pantheon guards, destroying each one that crossed his path.

_Why did it seem so easy back then? Why did I have no trouble fighting? I know. I didn't remember my horrible past back then. Yet, I still don't know everything now. I thought I could help Ciel. I thought I could make the same difference back then. I guess I am too old for this._

"Zero..." The Dark Elf hovered above him.

The scene was changed to the part where Zero met the Dark Elf, shortly after his fight with Elpizo.

"Dark...Elf?" He watched himself talk to the Dark Elf in his memories.

The Dark Elf, however, surprisingly turned to the Zero who was watching. He thought they were just memories, so how can they see him? The Dark Elf hovered closer to Zero, as if she were trying to say something.

"Zero...I want you to be happy, too." The Dark Elf slowly smiled.

Now he could finally speak. "What? What do you mean?"

He didn't get an answer, because everything around him turned into a bright white. All he could see now was vast emptiness.

"Wait! Dark Elf!" He neither saw nor heard nothing. He was alone. He felt erased already.

"All my memories...gone? No! I don't want to throw them away! I want to stay here, where I can hurt no one! I won't cause any problems here!"

"You will cause problems if you _are_ here, Zero."

Zero turned around to see who said that. When he turned, it turned out to be Passy, the Cyber-elf that Ciel used to reawaken him.

"Passy? I thought you were..."

"Zero, when Cyber-elves are used, they are usually found inside the body of the user. I never left, Zero, but I saw everything you did and read every thought you had. Zero, you have to wake up."

Zero covered his ears with his hands. "No! I don't want to wake up! I'll never wake up!"

Kelon appeared before him. "Come on, Zero! I didn't give you higher jumps for nothing, you know! Wake up! Fulfill your purpose as well!"

Jettah also appeared. "Zero, you are a speed demon thanks to me! Now come on! Wake up and pump those legs!"

The four Bomb elves hovered over Zero. "Come on, Zero! Time to go Super Zero 4!"

Grandie also hovered beside Zero. "Please Zero, wake up. Ciel needs you."

Then all of the Cyber-elves Zero had used appeared before him, each one urging him to wake up.

"Zero, you have to wake up and help Ciel! She needs you!" Passy said. The other Cyber-elves nodded in agreement.

"Even if I do wake up, she'll end up dead, just like Iris! It's better if I just stay put, and be erased from existence." Zero sulked.

"Zero. If you don't wake up now, the war will take its toll on everyone." It was X in his Cyber-elf form.

"What do you mean, X?" Zero asked.

"What I mean is that if you don't wake up now, the Resistance will be completely taken over, and all humans and reploids are doomed. The tragedy of the Elf Wars will be repeated, and this time _everything_ will be completely wiped out. The armies in this war are being prepared as we speak, Zero. As we speak, as these Cyber-elves urge you, as you sulk in your own past, the armies are fast approaching. Zero. You have to help the Resistance stop this war. Right now!"

The sounds of marching rang through Zero's ears. He heard the sounds of soldiers fighting, and reploids dieing. He could feel the cold lifelessness around his body after the war. It was the same feeling he had before. Loneliness.

Zero scoffed and turned away. "And what could I do? Everything will end in tragedy anyways. I let Iris die, and I'll end up letting Ciel and the Resistance die as well if I wake up. I'll screw everything up!"

X hovered closer to Zero. "Do you remember what happened after Iris' death?"

"What?"

"I said, do you remember what you did after Iris had died?"

X didn't wait for an answer.

"You kept fighting, Zero. You didn't just give up after you couldn't save one person. You knew that other lives had to be saved. You helped me defeat Sigma countless times. You kept going. You didn't give up, Zero."

The scene changed, and Zero watched himself fight Sigma, Dynamo, High Max, and others that he had fought after Iris had died. He saw that he had a determined look on his face. He knew that Iris would tell him the same thing the Cyber-elves and X were trying to tell him. Don't give up.

Zero smirked. It was the same expression he always wore to battles back in the day. X and the other Cyber-elves were relieved.

"You're right, X. I shouldn't give up now. Too many lives are depending on me."

The white light grew brighter around them.

"Zero. Remember the past, live in the present, and dream of the future."

The white light blinded Zero.

**Change of scene**

"Zero's awake! Zero's awake!" Alouette jumped up and down, tossing her stuffed animal in the air and catching it. Ciel looked at Zero's capsule as saw that he was awake. Zero, realizing he was in a capsule, punched the glass and crawled out of the capsule. He stood upright.

"Hey."

Alouette jumped up and down. Ciel went up to Zero and hugged him tightly. She was crying tears of joy.

"Oh Zero...you're awake! Thank Goodness you're awake!"

"Good to be awake, Ciel."

Cerveau walked into the room. "Zero! You're finally awake! I don't know how you erased the effects of the poison, but it's good that you're..." He shrieked.

Zero looked behind him and noticed that he broke Cerveau's capsule. He looked at Cerveau innocently.

"Uh...oops?"

Cerveau frowned, but he had more important things to do. "Zero, the Operators want you to report to the Operations Room! There's something you have to see!"

Zero dashed out of the room and to the Operations Room. He broke down the doors because they didn't slide open fast enough. When he was in the Operations Room, he faced the Operators.

"What's the problem?" Zero crossed his arms.

The Operators were very relieved that Zero woke up, but professionally didn't show it and briefed Zero.

"The camera outside of the base caught someone very interesting. He's waiting at the front gate as we speak."

They turned on the camera screen. The interesting "someone" was Harpuia, waiting outside of the Resistance. He held Leviathan on his shoulders and used his other arm to hold Fefnir. Both of them looked pretty beat up, and were unconscious. The Emerald Guardian noticed the camera and looked straight into it. He spoke to it as well.

"Zero, we need to talk."

**End of Chapter**

Author: Well, that's it. Personally, this chapter was one of my shorter ones, because this wasn't meant to be a pure "Boss Battle" chapter. This chapter is one that moves the story forward. The story is reaching its climax soon, and the war will finally be decided. I finished MMZ3, so now I know what changes to the story I have to make. The next coming chapters will be much more action-packed (perhaps the one after the next). Please read and review!


	11. A Momentary Truce

Author: Guh. Essay project. Advertising project. Spanish test. And…_basketball?_ Well, my time for this story is diminishing? Yes. But that won't stop me! I'm trying to put in time in between super-duper-fun high school _and _chores. Enough about me whining, here's the next installment.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the MMZ series. Those rights belong to Capcom. Characters I do own are Dex, Max, Sam, Camo, and the three silhouettes. More may appear soon.

A Momentary Truce

**"We need to talk, Zero." Harpuia was standing outside of the Resistance Base with Fefnir and Leviathan in his arms. **

Apparently, he wasn't going to spring a surprise attack by waiting outside of the base. The members of the Resistance didn't really trust him, however. Well, except for Old Andrew and Alouette, who met Harpuia. Zero knew Harpuia's style, so he had no doubts that the Emerald Neo-Arcadian Guardian was sincere.

Ciel must have read Zero's mind, because as soon as Harpuia was done with his message, she walked up to Zero and nodded her head. Zero nodded back and turned to walk to the gates.

The Resistance Base had never been really big on building any major, major defenses, but this time it was different. Zero had no idea that the base had been reinforced with a large gate. It was made with two large doors. They stood tall twice as high as the gun turrets, and were thicker than several layers of heavy-coat armor. The gate made a huge impression on Zero. Literally. The distance apart from the gates and the entrance to the base was a significant walking distance, about half a mile. Zero was never one to complain and be lazy, so he dashed through in no time.

Although the gates had to be opened by a switch within the base, at the bottom of the two tall doors there was a small door to cross from outside the base and in. It was a narrow path, and was guarded. It was also fairly difficult to notice, since it was well hidden. Nothing could possibly get past the gate.

Zero opened the small door and met Harpuia outside the base. On camera Leviathan and Fefnir looked like they were in bad shape, but up close they were a total wreck! Leviathan had scorch marks all over her body and what was left of her armor. Fefnir's armor appeared to be brutally shattered, and it looked like his arm was dislocated. Even though Harpuia was still standing, he didn't look in the best of form. He had a bruise on the left side of his cheek, and he was bleeding on the lip. There were some scratches on his armor and a couple shards of ice.

Harpuia scoffed and literally gave him the cold shoulder and turned to the gate. With his body, he asked, "Aren't we going to go in now?"

Zero had a lucid understanding of body language, and chuckled as he led Harpuia through the small door. Although words were not spoken to either of them, they understood each other. As Harpuia walked through the door, he looked around the area surrounding the Resistance Base. He had been here before, courtesy of Zero saving his emerald behind. Large hills and mountains surrounded the base, and there were many passes visible. On the right, there was a steep, smooth mountain slope. Harpuia had to admit; this was an excellent location for a base. It would be very difficult to stage a successful assault here.

Zero noticed Harpuia looking at the mountain slope on the right, and he looked, too. What the Blond Bomber wanted to do was to get a board and slide down that slope. Of course, the only boards available were hover boards, and if you were to "surf" down the slope, the results wouldn't mean a nice paint-job.

The Resistance waited outside of the door to the base gingerly. They tried to look fearless and intimidating, but the fear and unrest in them was noticeable. Harpuia flashed them a glaring look with his eyes. They were as hard as jade-green jewels. The soldiers gulped and Zero chuckled, standing before them and letting Harpuia walk in first. The Emerald Guardian noticed this and he smirked.

"I won't bite." Harpuia chuckled and continued to walk inside while the soldiers had time to take a breath. Zero chuckled and walked in after Harpuia. He saluted the soldiers and they went back to their duties.

"Your soldiers are obviously lacking. I don't think they felt their legs shake in my presence." Harpuia looked at Zero and raised a brow, waiting for a comment.

"Well, I guess soldiers are one thing, but they are a bit smarter than those fearless drones you have." Now it was Zero's turn to smirk.

Harpuia scoffed and looked ahead. "Whatever. Just put these two in the Maintenance Room so we can have our chat."

"Say the magic words, boy." Rocinolle stood before Harpuia. She was the head nurse in the Resistance, and trained the new coming reploid nurses. She also helped Cerveau work on complex reploids who were injured in battles (particularly Zero). The one-woman medic team did not show any fear as the soldiers outside did, and she stared straight and hard into Harpuia's eyes. He met her eyes with a similar stare, but she would not yield. He admitted he was a little intimidated by her. Just a little.

"_Please_?" Harpuia frowned.

Rocinolle smirked. "That's a start, buddy boy. I'll take over from here." There was some heat in her voice, but overall she kept it under control. She carried both Leviathan and Fefnir on her shoulders and walked towards the Maintenance Room.

Finally alone, Harpuia and Zero both looked at each other. Zero grinned widely and Harpuia scoffed. They both made their way towards the Waiting Room, perhaps the only room that Harpuia knew the direction to. While they were walking, Zero made whipping sounds at regular intervals during their trip. If he weren't going to be kicked out, he would have started fighting with Zero right there. The Legendary Maverick Hunter wouldn't have minded that.

When they arrived, the doors slid open. Harpuia walked in casually, as if this was his room. He pulled a chair in the corner and set it near a table in the middle of the room. Zero preferably stood, leaning against the wall. The door closed and there was a silence between the two. Harpuia grimaced a bit, feeling his bruise on the left side of his cheek. He caressed it with his hand. As he did, ice shards fell off of his arm and melted on the floor. With his other hand, he wiped the blood from his lip.

"The bandages and gauzes are on that shelf there." Zero pointed to the shelf near the back of the room.

Harpuia ignored that comment and stated bluntly, "We need your help."

"Really?" Zero raised a brow.

"Yes. As you can see, we aren't here to visit you for no reason, obviously." The Neo-Arcadian Guardian frowned. "Some mysterious figures drove us out of Neo Arcadia."

"Who were they?" Zero crossed his arms.

"I'm not sure, but I do know what they did to the other Guardians and me."

**Change of scene**

"I'm going to get it right this time." Harpuia hovered in the air and stared at the wall. Even though he had recovered from his last injuries, he went straight back to training. Of course, he had to deal with many daily issues before he could do so. The humans that lived in New Califern grew worried and fearful of another attack. Harpuia and the other two Guardians had to find ways to calm the worrisome city down, and stop the usual riots. The people of Neo Arcadia grew more and more restless. Some were afraid that another attack would come. Some were bolder and started to chant "No more Reploids!" Near chaos was ensuing, and the three Guardians were suppose to clean the mess up.

It wasn't Harpuia's problem anyway. Fefnir was in charge of crowd control, so he would be the one who would be out there all day taking care of the bedlam outside. Leviathan, however, nagged Harpuia not to train and finish overseeing the precautions of another attack. As much as he respected the other two Guardians, he didn't like Leviathan's nagging. It vexed him greatly. After she had finish nagging, she had her own things to do. Harpuia had already set up a defense plan for the armies and citizens of the Neo Arcadia in case of another attack, so he didn't feel like "overseeing" the plan again. So when she had left, Harpuia sneaked out to train.

Training was one way to blow off steam. The same could be said for Fefnir and Leviathan as well. After the stress of dealing with a crazy, lunatic government like Neo Arcadia, you would think the Guardians would have a day off. A day off was training for these guys.

Harpuia smirked to himself, finally having some time for himself for a change. He activated the target system and brought up the wall again. As many times Leviathan nagged "not to do that crazy attack anymore or else you'll get killed!" he just screwed it and went off to train. He had more important things to do than to look over a carefully executed plan for the fifth time, like perfecting the "Flying Izuna Corkscrew."

He flew up into the air to level with the wall. He stared at it, determined to tear that wall into shreds. He felt that he could do it now, and that now would be the time that he would finally perfect this attack. The thought of it excited his body, and he illuminated with green energy. He activated his beam sabers and kicked on his boosters at full speed.

"Flying Izuna Corkscrew!"

He dashed quickly towards the wall at a very high speed. He spun around right away like a corkscrew and the beam sabers twirled around him. He was about to make contact with the wall when it suddenly fell to the ground. The target system had been turned off, but Harpuia didn't turn it off. He stopped abruptly and looked around. Only he had access to the controls on his own training room, so what happened? There was a control room below him that had access to the target system and such, so he figured that Leviathan must have found him and turned off the training program.

He cursed under his breath and floated down until his feet touched the ground. Pissed and expecting another nagging, he walked to the control room to confront the she-devil known as Leviathan. He opened the door.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I'll get back to overseeing the plan…" He realized he wasn't talking to anybody. No one was in the control room, but the switch had been flipped off. He stared at the switch incredulously. _Who flipped the switch off? Did anyone even do that? _He looked around the room and saw that the doors were closed, and he didn't hear them open earlier. The thought of a ghost possibly doing this crossed his mind, but he knew it wasn't possible. _Ghosts don't exist, Leprechauns do_.

The alarm blared off. Harpuia sighed and dashed out of the room, expecting another attack. He wasn't the only one.

Fefnir wasn't at crowd control as Harpuia thought. Instead, he sneaked back into his room and started to play video games on the computer after Leviathan nagged him not to. The thought of crowd control sent shivers down his spine, and he didn't want to be the missing one after a day's work. Besides, he was in first place in the middle of the game, so he did not want to be interrupted. When the alarm blared off, Fefnir leaped up in surprise and accidentally pulled out the mouse. He scrabbled to put in back in, but by the time he did, he was in sixth place already. He pounded the keyboard and broke it. His hot temper flared up again and he stomped to the Operations Room to find out why the alarm went off. He hoped it wasn't another attack.

For a reploid capable of nagging two Neo Arcadian Guardians, you would think Leviathan would have some discipline. She didn't. After she had finished nagging, she went off to her Temple of Ice to swim a few laps around. For her, swimming mollified her mind and her stress drowned out in the cool water. Laps were like minutes to her, and she never wanted it to end. However, the troubles of Neo Arcadia would never cease until the war was over. The alarm blared off and Leviathan groaned. She wondered what Harpuia would want now, since he would usually be the one who sets off the alarm. She leaped out of the water and ran to the Operations Room without drying herself up.

Leviathan and Fefnir were the first ones to arrive at the Operations Room. They expected to meet up with Harpuia, who probably would be the one to set off the alarm. When they got there, however, three cloaked figures were standing over the alarm switch. The figures heard Leviathan and Fefnir, so they turned around. The hoods on their cloaks concealed their faces, but their size wasn't concealed. There was a large cloaked figure in the middle of the three, while the medium-sized figure was on the left and the shortest on the right. The Guardians and the figures stood facing each other in silence, until Fefnir broke it.

"Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?" Fefnir fazed his arm blaster on.

The large one spoke with an incredibly deep voice. "Enough talking. I already know that you want to fight."

The large one must have read Fefnir's mind because he was itching to brawl. The hotheaded reploid aimed his blaster at the large cloaked figure and fired several Blast Shots towards his direction. They were larger than the average shots, since Fefnir's temper heated them up. Leviathan followed suit and phased on her trident. She aimed the tip of it at the cloaked group and fired several sharp tips of the trident at the group.

The group of cloaked figure looked at each other and the large one nodded. His hands sparked with electricity and he smashed the ground under him with those hands. A barrier of thunder materialized over the group, neutralizing Fefnir's Blast Shots as they hit the barrier. Leviathan's ice-cold sharp tips would pass the barrier, though. The shortest one ignited his hands with flames and threw multiple sparks of fire, each one melting the sharp tips. He laughed an odd laugh.

"Heh heh heh. Ju shrimps ain't got nuttin on meh. Time tuh blow dem tuh bits, eh?"

The large one nodded. "I concur."

The medium-sized one just stood there and watched.

The towering giant rose lifted his hands up from the ground and charged them up with electricity. Sparks shot out of his hands until he couldn't keep them contained anymore. He brought his hands together and clapped his hands together. The sound was as fast as a bolt of lightning. In fact, the sound acted as a bolt of lightning and shot Fefnir in the chest. When it made contact, he was electrocuted badly and some of his armor went flying off, melted by the heat of the thunderbolt, and Fefnir had a horrible allergy to electric attacks. The Guardian was sent reeling several feet back, his body skidding on the floor.

The large one wasn't done, however. He used static electricity to attract the metal on Fefnir's armor and pulled him into his hand. With Fefnir in his grasp, he tightened his powerful grip and was slowly crushing Fefnir. As if that weren't enough, he charged up his hand and electrocuted Fefnir as he put the squeeze on him. The hotheaded reploid's fire burned out as he cried in pain over the shock noises.

"Fefnir!" Leviathan cried out. She started to run towards the group's direction to try to save Fefnir. The short figure anticipated this and he threw some more fireballs at her. The cool blue reploid stopped in her attempt and batted away the fireballs with the blunt end of her trident. The fire melted some parts of her trident, since it was made of ice. Leviathan flinched every time she hit one away because she could feel the heat of each one, which was hotter than she was used to.

The short figure smirked under his hood, realizing Leviathan had an allergy to fire. He spun his arms around in a circular formation and then clasped his hands together. He slowly started to part them as a small ball of fire slowly burned in between his hands. As he pulled his hands farther away form each other, the larger the ball grew. When he was satisfied, he threw the ball of fire, which was about as large as Leviathan's head. She quickly stabbed her trident into the ground and created an ice serpent. Before the ball could hit her, she leaped onto the serpent's head and jumped over the ball. Or so she thought. The ball of fire was actually a heat-seeking one, so it followed Leviathan where she was in mid-air and found her. When it made contact, a large explosion shattered the sound in the air and Leviathan fell to the ground, severely burned and almost unconscious.

The large one had been electrifying Fefnir the entire time. He finally decided he didn't want to waste energy like this and threw him into Leviathan. The impact pushed them both back a few feet. Now they both were knocked out. The two figures charged up their attacks, preparing for one final strike.

"Take dis shrimps! Yee-haw!" The short one fired a power stream of fire. The large one shot two bolts of thunder out of his hands, and the two bolts mingled into each other. The fire stream circled the newly formed bolt and was about to hit the two vulnerable Guardians. However, they had only beaten two Guardians.

A green blur appeared in front of Leviathan and Fefnir. Right before the attack could come within a foot, two purple beam sabers cut through the attack and parted it left and right, missing the targets completely. The explosions the attacks made rocked the room, but Harpuia kept his composure and glared at the group with those harden jade eyes of his. He looked behind him and was appalled that Leviathan and Fefnir were injured so badly. However, he kept his cool and looked back at the group of cloaked figures.

"Who are you and what is your business here?" Each syllable had to be enunciated slowly so Harpuia wouldn't lose control and just lash out at them. He knew the safety of humans came before him, so he needed to know what these strange figures wanted.

The large one lowered his electric hands. "At last, the most dangerous Guardian. Yet, you remain standing and not just attacking randomly. You truly are the leader of the Guardians, aren't you?"

"Your flattery won't lighten the mood. Now, _what are you doing here?_" His grip on his sabers tightened. A drop of sweat rolled down his cheek and dropped to the floor.

The short one spoke up. "Ju da friggin shrimp ain't cha? Well, now ju gotta deal wid us, got it?"

The large one held one of his enormous hands in front of the short one to silence him. "I suppose you deserve to know the fate of humans. We are here simply to destroy Neo Arcadia and eradicate the entire human race, or what's left."

Harpuia sneaked in a sly smirk. "That's all I needed to know. Now I'm going to show you the way out. Or even better, dispose of you Mavericks!"

"Who is the Maverick here?" The medium-sized one spoke. Her voice was icy cold, and it froze Harpuia's attention. The large and short figure nodded to each other and stepped away from the medium figure. They knew that she wanted Harpuia to herself.

The Emerald Guardian also knew this, and he held up his sabers in a defensive position. _Perfect. I'll dispose them one by one, starting with this one._

"I'll have you know, Maverick, after our little squabble we will break down the gates to these cities and kill all of the humans." She drew a short metal sword from under her cloak.

"I don't think so." Harpuia pressed a button on his communicator and the alarm blared off. What he had pressed was a button that activated the full metal gates. They sealed the front entrance of all of the cities, and their coats of armor would take days to penetrate completely. The armies and civilians were already inside the protected cities, which Harpuia had planned beforehand. "You're going to have to plow through these metals gates."

"No problem." Under her hood, she smirked. Her voice was getting slightly more playful, but she kept the ice in her voice. "After we destroy you, it'll be only a matter of time before he break through."

"But you can't destroy me."

Harpuia quickly Mirage Dashed towards the figure and slashed both of his sabers at her. She quickly retaliated by blocking one saber with her short sword. It seemed to be made of the same metal that could withstand beam sabers. However, she didn't block the other saber, which was coming down towards her head. The short sword she had extended and blocked the other saber. The Emerald Guardian didn't expect this, but he also didn't expect her next move. With her free hand, he sent a powerful right slap that landed right on Harpuia's left cheek. He staggered back, reeling from the surprise blow.

Then her sword broke away into separate pieces, but they were parts of the "sword" attached together with a strong chain. It was a combination of a metal whip and sword. With a swift motion of her left hand, she thrust the end of the whip towards Harpuia's face. It whipped his lip and the attack stung Harpuia bitterly. It burned with pain, but also felt cold with malice. He noticed there were ice shards on his cheek.

_Shit._ He had an allergy to ice attacks.

The figure smiled playfully under her hood and the whip wrapped around his right ankle. Before he could react, the whip pulled him from under and he landed squarely on his butt. It had not been an attack, but more of a gesture, and Harpuia realized she wasn't taking him seriously. This angered him, so he flew up into the air and burst with green energy. He held his sabers of his head and summoned multiple Thunder Strikes. The bolts came out quickly, but incredibly the whip reacted and deflected each bolt that came down. Harpuia stopped the rain of thunder attacks and stared at the figure incredulously. The whip retracted back into a sword and the figure spoke.

"You aren't going to defend the lives of humans by performing silly clown tricks like these, are you? I'd rather fight Zero."

Harpuia's blood boiled. He hated being compared to Zero. The green energy from him surged, and he lost his cool composure, having his anger melt it away. Without thinking, he flew at top speed towards the figure and spun around. He was going to perform the "Flying Izuna Corkscrew," perfected or not. Unfortunately, it was far from being perfect. The figure saw the attack coming from a mile away, and she stepped to the side out of Harpuia's contact range. However, as he passed her, the very air and Harpuia was manipulating was sharp, and it shred parts of her cloak. He stopped, screeching his feet on the ground to stop himself. He glanced back at the half-cloaked figure, and saw a glimpse of short, midnight blue hair sticking out of the ripped side.

She wasn't amused. "You…" Any playfulness that had possibly been in her voice had diminished now. The sword broke into a whip again, and it wrapped itself around Harpuia's neck and constricted it. Although he didn't necessarily need air to breathe, his neck was being crushed. He tried to pull the whip away, but it didn't help. With another swift thrust of her left hand, she used the whip throw him to where the other two Guardians were. He landed right on his head, and it hurt badly.

She retracted the whip back into a short sword. "I'm done wasting time with you. Time to retire the obsolete Guardians of Neo Arcadia." The other two figures nodded and began to charge up their attacks.

Harpuia wasn't in the best position in the world right about now. He had to escape, as much as he hated to retreat. But he knew he needed aid to fight these figures. Before they could launch their attacks, Harpuia fired a Super Sonic Boom towards the group. The large one had no choice but to cancel his attack and bring up the Thunder Barrier. The Super Sonic Boom made contact with the barrier and created a large explosion, scattered dust everywhere. When it cleared, Harpuia and the other two Guardians were gone.

"Damn! Dem muthafackas got away! Les get dem!" The short one shot his ball of fire into a wall.

"No. We have our assignments." The large one crossed his arms together.

A dark shadow appeared next to the three figures. This one wore a cloak also, but it was ripped on all parts of it, and the figure inside had yellow, bright gleaming eyes. Its voice was very menacing. "I congratulate you three. I never thought they would be easily scared off like that."

"Who are you?" The female pulled the rest of her cloak over her body.

"Let's just say I'm an associate of Omega. Now, here is the rest of the assignment…"

**Change of scene**

Harpuia frowned.

"Those guys sound like Reploforce!" Zero uncrossed his arms and slammed his hands on the table.

"Whoever these characters are, you're going to help us destroy them."

Zero raised a brow. "What makes you think I would help you guys right out of the blue? This could be a set-up."

"Think about this, Zero. If this Reploforce you speak of takes over Neo Arcadia, not only will they destroy all of the humans, but use our resources as well. That means they'll grow in number, especially with all of the factories we have." It was Harpuia's turn to cross his arms.

Zero already knew he would help them; he just wanted to see if Harpuia was awake. Apparently, he was. Harpuia also knew that Zero would help him right away, but he wanted to see how he would react. This made the Guardian feel a little better.

Suddenly, a loud crash noise came from the other room. Zero and Harpuia exchanged looks, both realizing Fefnir must have woken up sooner than they thought. They both went out of the Waiting Room and into next door, which was the Maintenance Room. When the doors slid open, the first thing they saw was Fefnir shaking a fist at Rocinolle, who was staring Fefnir down. Leviathan drowsily rubbed her eyes, waking up as well. Rocinolle noticed Harpuia and Zero walk in, so she greeted them as if Fefnir wasn't even there.

"Hey kids. These two woke up earlier than I thought! They aren't completely healed yet, but at least they're conscious."

Fefnir cursed under his breath when he saw Zero. "Damn! It's one thing to be beaten be some fat ass, but now I got Zero helping me! _Zero,_ helping _me_!"

Leviathan sighed, already tired of Fefnir's consistent complaining, or perhaps "whining" would be a more suitable term. "Fefnir, just rest. We'll talk about this later on." She looked at Zero and he looked back. It was body language, and they were greeting each other. The announcer going off interrupted their moment of vision. It was none other than the Operators.

"Zero, please report to the Command Room immediately!"

He smirked and dashed out of the room. Harpuia followed suit, and so did Fefnir and Leviathan. Fefnir's loose gown fluttered while he was running, but he didn't notice. The girls in the Resistance passing by sure did. When they all walked into the Command Room, a message was loading on the screen.

"Alright, what now?" Zero crossed his arms.

The screen turned on and three figures stood, barely visible on the monitor. The three Guardians knew immediately who they were.

"It's them! They're the three who drove us out of Neo Arcadia!" Leviathan emphasized by pointing her finger at them.

The large one spoke. "Resistance. Guardians. Zero. We have taken over Neo Arcadia. We know that you and the Guardians plan to take it back, but as you can see, it's not as simple as you think. We are offering you a challenge. If you are able to defeat all three of us, we will leave Neo Arcadia as it is. However, you are only permitted to bring one Guardian with you, seeing that we have altered the transportation system. We will be in the Temples of Fire, Ice, and Wind. See you all soon."

The message ended.

"Looks like it's a team effort." Zero uncrossed his arms. The Guardians already felt uncomfortable with this, but Harpuia knew it had to be done.

"As soon as Leviathan and Fefnir have fully recuperated, we will start the assault."

"What about you? Why don't you and Zero go and fight now?" Fefnir wanted to fight, but he wasn't ready for battle yet.

"Because," Harpuia said. "I need to clear my head."

Zero understood this. Harpuia needed to think, especially after what happened to him recently.

"Alright, as soon as you guys are ready to rumble." Zero smirked.

"Then I suppose this is a momentary truce, then." Leviathan smirked as well. "Emphasis on the word 'momentary.' Got it?"

Zero chuckled.

Author: Alright. The next couple of chapters are going to be the more interesting ones. I had this segment of this story planned from the start, so wait patiently. Read and review please!


	12. Five for Fighting Fefnir

Author: Welcome true believers! It's the season of giving! I'll bet that Thanksgiving dinner filled you up, but now it's time to tide you guys over with another chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own the MMZ series. Capcom owns that. I do own my own created characters, and the three Silhouettes (even though they aren't silhouettes anymore, I just wanted to refer to them as that).

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Five for Fighting Fefnir

**Zero would never believe that there would be a time where he would be teaming up with the Three Guardians.**

Of course, he also didn't think the Guardians could believe it either. Zero had single-handedly defeated all of them and now they needed his help against some new powerful foes. He wondered how strong they were. Could the Legendary Maverick Hunter survive against them by himself? Zero was seldom boastful, but he had the idea in the back of his head that he could take them on. Perhaps it was an old cocky feeling from the years before. In any case, this announcement excited him. He was finally going to get his hands on Reploforce, and really stop them from causing any more harm. Maybe it's possible that if he were to help Neo Arcadia, the humans would respect the Resistance more. Maybe even agree to terms for peace?

The Blond Bomber thought wishfully lying on his bed. He had enough of the capsule treatment after what happened before, and the last thing Cerveau needed was to pay for new capsules. For a Legendary Maverick Hunter, whose skills are nearly unrivaled, he was quite a klutz. He chuckled softly, imagining the look on Cerveau's face every time he would wreck something. Although these incidents would be accidental, Zero found a guilty pleasure to see what color face Cerveau would turn. So far, it turned pink and red. Hopefully, he would get to see purple.

The Three Silhouettes somehow tampered with the trans system, only allowing two beings to cross into the Temples of Fire, Ice, and Wind. _Why wouldn't they just only allow one? Do they think even two wouldn't beat them?_ This confused Zero, and immediately he thought of the idea that maybe they were trying to set the Resistance up, perhaps using the challenge for a distraction. Maybe they only allowed two to slow their pace down. _But why?_ Their motives were obviously to eradicate the human race and pave the way for a world only for Reploids, but why would they waste their time playing around with the Guardians and Zero? _They must have something else planned. But what?_

Zero's thoughts were interrupted when the doors slid open. Max stood outside the room. Zero wasn't exactly mad when he came in, but he didn't like the idea that the doors just slide open to anyone. _Why doesn't the Resistance make locks for these doors? I mean, people just stand outside and the doors magically slide open! _He remembered he did barge into other people's room as well, and all he had to do was to stand in front of the door. So much for privacy.

"Zero! What the hell were you thinking? You brought in the Guardians!" Max elevated his voice after each word, putting more stress on the word "Guardians."

_Oh yeah, the little truce. _ "Er, we agreed to a truce with Neo Arcadia, so we're helping the Guardians take back Neo Arcadia." Zero scratched the back of his head.

"Damn it, Zero! They're treating the base like they _live_ here! Come see for yourself!" Max stomped out of the room without Zero, who followed closely behind.

They both walked into the cafeteria. When the doors slid open, the room was packed. It seemed that Harpuia, Leviathan, and Fefnir attracted much attention. Fefnir was in right side of the cafeteria, arm wrestling with some soldiers (three at a time) while the rest were cheering. Leviathan sat on the tables on the left side, talking with the reploids soldiers, who gawked at her beauty. She noticed that they weren't listening (they were looking), but she liked the attention. Every time Leviathan flipped her hair, the soldiers watched it hang with their eyes fixated on her hair. Harpuia hung in the back of the cafeteria, watching the two other Guardians fool around. He didn't seem to notice a group of 'ploid girls cooing at his boyish looks.

"See? Go tell them to get out of here!" Max's voice was loud enough to silence the entire cafeteria. Everyone looked at him, especially the Guardians. The other Resistance members couldn't believe that Max had the balls to tell the Guardians to get out. Most of the soldiers showed this by keeping shut, afraid that the Guardians might start attacking Max or even them. Fefnir was about to set Max straight and Leviathan scoffed and flipped her hair. Harpuia walked towards Max, but he past him instead. When they crossed each other, their eyes met. Each of them had a sense of malice hidden within them, but Harpuia maintained his hardened composure. The Emerald Guardian then set his eyes on Zero.

"I'm going to go train. It's boring here."

"Just go to the Command Room. Don't take too long, we have to take back Neo Arcadia, remember?" Zero crossed his arms and smirked.

"How could I forget?" Harpuia didn't smirk and walked towards the Command Room. His back was turned to everyone, but he smirked.

Zero turned to Leviathan and Fefnir. "I thought you guys were still recovering, so how come you both are up?"

Leviathan answered for Fefnir and herself. "We still are, it's just that we are able to move around, but not battle." She turned to Fefnir. "As for Fefnir, however, he's already arm wrestling. He should be ready to go by now." She smirked deviously. She knew that Fefnir didn't want to go right away, but she also knew that Fefnir was too proud (and egotistic) to admit that he wasn't ready. The hothead Guardian stood up.

"Hell yeah I'm ready! Let's go right now!" Fefnir posed all macho, partially to prove he was ready for action, and partially to impress the reploid girls who were gawking at Harpuia. They weren't impressed, and Fefnir's ego diminished a little bit. Zero walked up to Fefnir, looking up and down to his body, examining his physical condition. He looked fine, but Zero studied Fefnir's left pectoral area and poked it with his finger. Fefnir fell to his knees and held his wound.

"Ow! Damn it, Zero!" Fefnir shook his free fist at Zero.

"Nice try, Fefnir. We'll wait until tomorrow. Those gates should hold the Reploforce guys off for quite a while." Zero chuckled.

Leviathan giggled softly, and the soldiers who were watching could have passed out from the sight if her. Zero noticed every time she giggled, her hair waved back and forth and eventually fell back on her shoulders. The way her hair moved was like an ocean, swaying back and forth. The true blue color of her hair shone each time she moved, and it was like watching the sparkling ocean water. Zero was swept up in her wave of radiance and didn't notice everyone looking at him.

Fefnir waved his hand in front of Zero's face. "Hey, hey! We'll go tomorrow, alright?"

Zero snapped back to reality. "Oh, yeah. Sure. I'm going to…go."

He walked out hastily, and Leviathan kept her eyes on him the entire time. Boy, were the soldiers green with envy as green as their uniforms! Fefnir crossed his arms and pouted childishly. _Another day of waiting. That guy doesn't look tough! He probably isn't. Probably._

****

Change of scene

You'd think as one of the Neo Arcadian Guardians he would never miss a thing. Harpuia was thinking to himself, missing the sign that read "Command Room" and walked past it. Now, he wondered where he was, utterly lost. _That's about the last time I drift off like that._ He meant that in more ways than one. Fortunately, the directions he would need came cavorting up to him. Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly in the mood to play with Alouette. She smiled brightly and sported her vermilion shades on her cheeks. Any pugnacious emotions he had felt earlier on melted right away when she smiled in front of him. All at once, he remembered that he kept a promise with Alouette before he left. He hoped she didn't remember.

"Piggy-back!" If Alouette were a light bulb, she would have shone right out of the glass. She leaped onto Harpuia's back and tapped her feet on his armor, which he kept on.

_Well I'll be damned, she remembered._ "Alright, one ride. But that's all I'm offering!" He smirked and started to carry Alouette here and there on his back, with her screaming at the top of her lungs. The Emerald Playmate was walking while he carried her, but now he started to pick up the pace. Now he was practically running! This exhilarated Alouette, increasing the amplitude in her high-pitched scream. If he hadn't open his eyes for one moment, he would have crashed into Old Andrew. Thankfully, he stopped just in time with his feet screeching on the floor. The wise reploid smiled without looking at Harpuia, but he knew that the Guardian was there. The last time they met, Harpuia was told to "find his soul." So far, it hadn't been working. Although Harpuia didn't say anything, Old Andrew could already tell from the silence that the Guardian wasn't successful. Yet.

"It doesn't just appear in front of you." Andrew scratched his butt and resumed his position.

"I suppose it wouldn't be that easy," Harpuia frowned. " but I didn't think it would be so…difficult."

Old Andrew raised a brow. " Did I hear that right? Did I just hear Harpuia admit something is too…difficult?"

Harpuia scoffed. "Yes."

"Come on now, sonny. You make it sound like it's a hard thing. It's whether you realize what to do. Maybe some people or 'ploids can't see it. Maybe it takes them a long time to see what's in front of them. Perhaps you should rip off the blindfold and face the facts."

"Which are?"

Old Andrew shrugged. "Only you know the truth. You just have to be man enough to face them."

_The truth? Well, the truth is…_

"Harpuia? Are you done already?" Alouette tapped her hand on The Emerald Guardian's helmet.

_The truth is that I have things to do. But first… _"One more round." Harpuia smirked and started with a speedy dash.

"Yip-pee!" Alouette held on tightly.

****

Change of scene

Ciel was in her lab reviewing her Ciel System once more. It was finally finished, but she couldn't just stop there. She double, triple, and quadruple-checked the entire system to see if it was legit. Now that her system was finally completed, she would just need a medium of powerful energy to set off the Ciel System. Without question, the Dark Elf came into her mind, but where was it? And would it really work it the Dark Elf were to be used? The Bright Scientist had her doubts, and also felt guilty using the Dark Elf for such…duties. It never was free, especially after Weil's curse. Would she really trap it forever using the Ciel System? She was torn apart to do the right thing.

The doors slid open.

"Hello, Zero." Ciel said with her face glued to the screen. She didn't even need to look at him to know he was there. Her tone had no emotion in it, and it droned.

Zero raised a brow. "Er, hey Ciel. I heard you were done with the Ciel System. So how does it work?"

Ciel rubbed her eyes. "Well, it simply is able to take energy and produce it in limitless amounts. That is to say, the energy source must be very powerful, or else you get tidbits of energy with anything else. The thing is, you and I both know there is only one thing that could be powerful enough."

"The Dark Elf."

"Precisely. Only problem is, we don't know where it is." Ciel's face had a downcast expression.

Zero walked to Ciel and put his hand on her shoulder. "I could tell that isn't the _only _problem."

Ciel half-smiled. "Yes. Oh Zero, I don't know if what we do with the Dark Elf is no better than what Weil did to her. I mean, all she wants to do is to be free. What would you do?"

"Don't forget Ciel, before Weil put the curse on her, she was created for good. That was her purpose. All she wanted to do was to help the world with justice and for the better good. If she were cured, I think she would devote herself to the Ciel System."

Ciel wiped a tear off of her cheek. "You think so, Zero?"

Zero handed her tissue. "Definitely."

"Oh Zero…"

"What is it, Ciel?"

"Thank you."

"No problem, Ciel." Zero took a sip of Ciel's coffee and walked out of the room. He cheered up Ciel. That felt good, but he couldn't help but to feel as if he walked out empty-handed. He didn't realize how late it was. The Sleepy Maverick Hunter stretched out his arms and walked over to his room. He just woke up from a coma and he already felt tired. Was he tired from waking up, or from today's activities? The back of his head told him to do something more, and the night was young. However, he needed the rest for tomorrow. With a final yawn, Zero arrived at the doorstep of his room and walked in, immediately leaping onto the bed.

****

Change of scene

"I still don't understand why we need to go through with this." The medium-sized cloaked figure said. The rest of her cloak concealed most of her body. The only thing that was revealed was a side of her short, midnight blue hair. She stood leaning against the metal gate, speaking to the large one. The giant stood with his massive arms crossed and listening intently to the medium one. Out of the three, those two got along rather well. The short one was a bit too annoying to even tolerate, with his accent _and _attitude. As annoying as he was, they had to keep him for this assignment. One of the reasons Omega picked him was that he got the job done, regardless of size. At the moment the short one wasn't "getting the job done," but rather playing one of Fefnir's videogames in his room.

"True. Our goal is to eradicate all humans, yet we are waiting for our prey to come to us. In fact, they aren't our prey at all. Right now we should be breaking down these gates while we can, instead of patiently waiting for them. It's just using up precious time." The large one tapped his fingers on his other shoulder.

"I understand where you are coming from. I want to finish this as well. I want to enjoy the world without humans already. Forget the assignment. Why don't you and me break these gates down right now?" The medium one already had her short sword in her hand.

The large one shook his head. "We have to follow orders. At least, for now. Be patient." Suddenly, the large one formed a fist with his right hand and punched the gate. The strength of his fist shook the gate and the entire building. All he managed was a fairly noticeable dent. "As you can see, perhaps you should try to be more patient than I am, at the moment."

The medium one shook her head and touched the large one's arm. Then she ran it up all the way to his shadowed face under his hood. She caressed it gently. "Maybe we both should start to try now." Her voice was as soft as snow.

"When this is all over…we could finally…"

The medium one interrupted the large one. "I know. When it's over."

Whatever moment they had was burned away when the short one walked in the room. "Ey, when dey gonna come, yo?"

The giant frowned under his hood, but maintained his deep voice. "Whenever they intend to. Everyone, head to a Temple immediately. Wait for them there."

The short one shrugged. "Ju da boss." He walked out of the room.

The medium one walked away without looking back and headed for a Temple. The giant rubbed the dent he made on the gate.

"When it's over…"

****

Change of scene

Zero couldn't sleep. Well, he was asleep a minute ago. He had heard an odd noise coming from outside of his room. It was too soft for Zero to try to figure out what it was, but it was definitely something. The sound just kept repeating itself for five minutes straight! Giving in, Zero got out of bed and walked towards the doors. They slid open, and Zero peeked outside. The hallway was dark, and there was only one room with the lights on, and it was farther down the hall. Before he could even take a step, the doors to that room opened. It was Ciel, coming out of the restroom (there was only one, since Ciel was the only human and she needed to urinate). She had her hair let down and it was still wet. Oddly enough, she still wore her regular dress she wears everyday, but she didn't have her stockings on. In her left hand, she held a bottle of shampoo. The Bright Scientist finally noticed Zero and greeted him softly, trying not to wake anyone up.

"Hi Zero."

"Hey, Ciel."

Ciel walked closer to Zero, getting ready to ask him some questions. All of the sudden, she dropped her bottle.

"Oops! Clumsy me." She bent down to pick up the bottle. Not only did she not wear her stockings, but she didn't seem to wear any undergarments either. Zero had a pretty good view of Ciel's…

****

Change of scene

Zero bolted sitting straight on his bed. He was sweating throughout his entire body, and he breathed heavily.

"What a…dream." He walked into his bathroom and washed his face. As cold as the water was, he still was sweating. He had never felt so overheated before. _Wow. I really don't know what happened back there…_

All of the sudden, a there was a knocking on his doors. No one knocks anymore.

_What the…? Why would there be a knock if the doors automatically slide open? And why aren't the doors open?_ Zero didn't bother to wipe off the water on his face and went straight to the door. He pressed the button on the wall (another obsolete feature until now). When the doors opened, Leviathan was standing in front of the room entrance with a towel around her body. Her _bare _body. Zero could feel the water on his face boil.

"I have to say, Zero, your showers aren't that great here. The water isn't cold enough. Can I use your shower?" Leviathan tilted her head to peek at Zero's bathroom.

The Unshakeable Maverick Hunter would have fallen right off of his knees. Here Leviathan was, standing in front of him with only a towel on.

"Zero? Are you paying attention?" Leviathan waved both of her hands in front of Zero's face. Fortunately, her hands weren't holding her towel, so it easily fell off of her body. And right there, Zero had a pretty good view of Leviathan.

****

Change of scene

Zero bolted straight up, and this time he bolted straight out of the bed as well. _Another heated dream like that, and I might just fizzle out._ His body was even sweatier than before, and his sheets stuck to him. He struggled to try to get them off. After he did, he made another trip to the bathroom and washed his face off. And for a second time, it didn't help. He dried off his face this time. The Awake Maverick Hunter was about to jump back into bed for another attempt at sleeping, but then the doors slid open.

Fefnir was standing outside of the room with only a towel on. His skin was a faded brown, but it was night so it wasn't very noticeable. "Zero! Are you the one who put the shower water to cold? You son of a…"

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Zero was confused and wasn't exactly comfortable to be talking with Fefnir when it's late at night and when he's wearing a towel.

"Damn it Zero you know what I'm talking about!" Fefnir slammed both of his hands on the sides of the room. This caused the towel to fall off Fefnir's waist. Zero had an appalling view of Fefnir's third Arm Cannon.

****

Change of scene

"Ahhhhhh!" Zero bolted straight up. However, he wasn't on his bed. He was on the floor. When he bolted up, he brought his head with him, and it hit the door with a loud thud. He screamed out again and rubbed his head. He wasn't sweaty anymore, in fact, he was chilly.

_What a nightmare!_ He looked at his clock. It read 2:13 AM. The Exhausted Maverick hunter climbed back into bed and pull the sheets over his head. _That is the last time I drink coffee before sleeping._

****

Change of scene

Fefnir and Zero were waiting in the center of the Command Room. Zero hadn't had much of a sleep, but he was still in active shape. However, he wasn't able to look Leviathan and Ciel straight in the eye after the dreams he had. As for Fefnir, he couldn't look at him at all. While the Operators put in the coordinates, Zero breathed deeply and tried to look past the dream. The alarm blared and the two got ready. They stood straight and upright while everyone else waved good-bye to them. Well, at least the Resistance soldiers waved to Zero. Only Harpuia and Leviathan waved to Fefnir. The bright light illuminated the entire room and the two were gone.

****

Change of scene

They both arrived at the entrance of the Temple of Fire. Large pillars sprouted from the ceiling and ended right above the lava. Some parts of the pillars were crumbled, so they were easier to break than the pillar parts that weren't broken. Unfortunately, Zero would be heavily injured by lava, and he needed to save some room for the upcoming cloaked figure. Fefnir, however, smirked widely. The dimples on his face almost touched his ears. All Fefnir had to do was to just run through, since he was immune to fire attacks, the lava might as well have been bath water to him. He did so, and he didn't even wait for Zero.

"Better catch up, Zero! Hah!" Fefnir gloated loudly and rammed through any pillars blocking his way.

Even though he couldn't touch lava, he would still try to find a way across. The Tellybombs were deactivated, but Zero had his own plan. Before he left the Resistance Base, Cerveau gave him enhanced versions of the Triple Rod and a new Recoil Rod. He said you should utilize these three weapons. Sam had helped Cerveau fix them up, so it was done very quickly.

The Blond Bomber was determined to catch up with Fefnir, so he drew his Chain Rod and shot it at a pillar. The tip stuck itself in the pillar. Zero gave it a small tug to make sure it was deep enough to hold. He took a couple of steps back, and swung over the lava. At the height of his arc, he withdrew the Chain Rod and was headed straight for a pillar. Zero was charging his Recoil Rod, however, and used the charged attack to smash the pillar away. The rod blasted the parts away and made a clearing for Zero. He saw that he was catching up with Fefnir. He wouldn't lose this race.

They went through a few more pillars until they finally reached the door out of the pillar area. Zero was about to open it by touching it, but Fefnir rammed through it and broke it down. He shrugged and followed Fefnir. When they arrived at the next room, they were greeted with a long pool of lava and some cannons on the ceiling, waiting for them to come. Fefnir snorted.

"Those cannons are going to slow us down." Fefnir crossed his arms.

Zero didn't need to take a hint at what Fefnir was trying to imply. Fefnir didn't want to take any damage before the big guy, so he wanted Zero to do the dirty work first. The Legendary Maverick Hunter sighed, but what had to be done had to be done. "Alright. I'll hop onto your back and you carry me while I take care of those cannons."

Fefnir smirked and Zero hopped on. The Hothead Guardian took off with a running start while Zero shot down the cannons with his Z-buster. Farther down, there were some Panel Cannons getting ready to shoot. Zero drew his Chain Rod and stabbed one Panel Cannon with the tip. With a strong tug, he threw that Panel Cannon into another one, both exploding on contact. The others were shaken by the explosion, so Zero shot the rest down.

The next room had many platforms and a switch at the top. Zero leaped form platform to platform working his way up to the switch. Fefnir shot Blast Shots near Zero, which nearly hit him.

"Watch it!" Zero yelled.

"Watch those Panel Cannons first." Fefnir pointed to the Panel Cannons near him. Fefnir only was providing cover fire. Zero was a little suspicious, however. He hit the switch on the top and Fefnir climbed up.

When they reached the end, they both were in front of the last door of the last room before the Big Guy. Zero gestured for Fefnir to open the door, and Fefnir rammed it down.

"This is your own Temple, you know. I didn't think you'd ram down the doors like this…"

Fefnir scoffed. "That bastard took over this place anyways. I'm going to renovate the entire Temple when I'm through with this."

The last room had lava rising up, and the door was all the way up to the ceiling level. Zero and Fefnir both looked up, both knowing what to do. How to do it, well, they had different ideas for that.

"If we hurry and climb up there, we should be able to make it." Zero crouched and got ready to jump.

"Heh! Do it the hard way! I got my own way! Hell of a lot faster, too!" Fefnir sneered.

"Oh yeah?" Zero crossed his arms.

"Watch and learn, kid. Hop onto my back!" Fefnir crouched and got ready.

Zero jumped onto Fefnir's back. _Odd. He calls me a kid, but I'm over a century old. Hmph._

Fefnir jumped onto the center platform, which was crumbling. The lava was also getting closer, too. Right before the platform fell, Fefnir pointed both of his Arm Cannons at the platform and released two Blast Shots. The force of those shots propelled them high above, and Zero jumped off, landing near the final door. Fefnir, however, was less agile and was falling back down. Zero threw the end of the Chain Rod at Fefnir for him to hold. The Guardian grabbed on for his dear life and hung on. Fefnir was a bit heavy for Zero, so he transformed into Power Form and gained the strength to pull him up. When they both were on the ground, each of them looked at the door. Behind that door would be the first of the Three Mysterious Figures, who seem to be working with Reploforce. Zero gestured for Fefnir to break down the door, but Fefnir just stared at Zero. The Maverick Hunter laughed and stepped in front of the door, allowing it to open.

When the doors slid open, Zero and Fefnir found themselves in a large room. It was very large, with the ceiling way up high, and barely visible. All around them was just rock, cooled off after being molten. Zero was relieved that there wasn't any lava, but that would have been the least of his worries. The large cloaked figure stood in the center of the room, next to a machine of some sort. It had two holes, which were probably for the hands. Zero didn't have time to think, as the cloaked figure spoke.

"So both of you have come. Perfect. Zero, the Legendary Maverick Hunter himself. It will be an honor to do battle with you. Fefnir, the third Guardian of Neo Arcadia. So, we have unfinished business, don't we?"

Fefnir clenched his fist. "Damn right we do!"

The large figure put his hands into the machine. "Then I suppose we should get started." The machine whirred on and electricity sparked out of the large figure's hands. After a few seconds, the power surged through his entire body and his muscles bulged, tearing his cloak into shreds.

The reploid wore a black jumpsuit with yellow armor. On his hands were gauntlets that were bigger than his head. On his chest he wore a large, thick chest plate that had a small Reploforce symbol on the top left-hand corner. Around his neck, he wore a thick, huge circular ring that completely gobbled up his neck and it looked very heavy. Everything he wore looked thick and heavy. Yet still, the reploid stood upright 6'6 as if he had no armor on at all. He was bald, but a gas mask covered his face. His muscles barely fitted his armor. A centimeter more toned and the armor would have broken right off.

Reploforce High-Voltage Thunder Gargantuan

****

Zeus

"I am Zeus." The gargantuan said tersely as he took his hands out of the machine. He pounded the ground with one fist and his arm sparked. Zeus flexed his muscles and pounded his hands together in fists.

Zero drew his Z-saber and equipped the Ice Chip on. His armor changed into a light blue color, and his saber grew with blue energy.

Fefnir already had his Arm Cannon on, so he cracked his fingers and started to shoot several Blast Shots.

Zeus put up his Thunder Barrier and neutralized the shots. Zero, however, dashed towards Zeus and slashed the barrier open. By the time Zeus noticed, Zero already slashed Zeus three times with his combo and fired a charged Split Shot at Zeus' armor. It froze that spot for a little while, but the ice soon melted after that. The saber slashes didn't even make a scratch on Zeus' armor. The Blond Bomber gulped, realizing the ineffectiveness of his attacks. The Gargantuan punched Zero hard and sent him flying into a wall. His armor gave out two layers and he bled by the mouth. Only one regular punch and he already took large amounts of damage. This was going to be harder than Zero thought.

Fefnir didn't really care and phased on his second Arm Cannon. With both in hand, he fired rapid Blast Shots at Zeus. Almost effortlessly, he put up the Thunder Barrier again and neutralized all of the shots. The large reploid electrified his hand and pulled Fefnir in with his electric grip. Zeus tightened his grip and slowly crushed Fefnir, and also electrified him with thousands of bolts of electricity. The Guardian cried out in pain, and Zero was going to respond.

He charged up another Split Shot, but now he knew where to aim. He shot it towards Zeus' face. Since he wasn't looking, he got blind-sighted by the shot and snapped back, dropping Fefnir in the process. The Legendary Maverick Hunter dashed up to Zeus, charging up his Z-saber. Zeus recovered his form and shot a Surge Wave at Zero. It traveled along the ground with sparks of electricity. Zero leaped up high in the air, avoiding the entire attack. When he came down, he struck Zeus with a fully charged saber attack. It hit his armor instead of his face, because Zeus moved a split-second before the full attack could come in contact with his face. It hit the armor, and had no noticeable effect.

Zeus clasped his hands together and started to charge up. Before Zero or Fefnir could do anything, a burst of electricity came out of his body. It was more like an electric wave that pushed Zero and Fefnir back.

"Surge Burst!" Zeus pushed them both back with a Surge Burst.

The two heroes both ended up getting hit near a wall. Fefnir was more damaged than Zero. Seeing that none of them could do it alone, he decided to let Fefnir use a Cyber-elf to heal himself. Zero went through his list and picked out Satick. He handed the container to Fefnir.

"Here, use this!" Zero set the container down by Fefnir's side and dashed towards Zeus. The gargantuan ran towards the machine and inserted his hands in there. The machine whirred on and Zeus' body started to charge up again. The machine was his power source.

_We've got to destroy that machine!_ Zero aimed his Z-buster at the machine and fired a charged shot. However, Zeus was ready and swatted it away with his hand. Then, Zeus used his electromagnetic energy to boost his speed and appeared right next to Zero. It was so fast that Zero didn't even have time to even catch a sight of Zeus. The gargantuan grabbed Zero and stretched the Maverick Hunter's body over his neck. Then he electrocuted Zero. Thousands of jolts shocked Zero and was causing great damage. As if that weren't enough, Zeus leaped up high into the air and turned upside-down in mid-air. When he came back down, he slammed Zero into the ground.

Fefnir only watched in horror, realizing his uselessness. He wasn't even contributing in this fight at all. _No wonder Zero beats me. I'm a failure…_ He sulked his head down, not even watching how Zero was doing against Zeus. He might as well have died, seeing how he couldn't beat anybody anymore.

Satick came out of his container and hovered next to Fefnir. He had a proud expression on his face, and seemed happy. "Hey! I'm Satick, and I got the power to heal you completely!"

"Don't waste your time, Elf." Fefnir just stared at the ground.

"Zero told me to help you, and that's my purpose! Now come on, let me heal you!"

"Zero? _He_ told you to help _me_?" He couldn't believe it. He stooped so low that Zero had to help him, and now Zero was taking the fight all by himself! He got up and grabbed the Satick.

"Heal me!" Fefnir roared.

"You got it!" Satick circled around Fefnir and sealed the cracks in his armor, as well as the broken structure parts (bones) in his body. Then he disappeared into Fefnir's chest.

All at once Fefnir felt rejuvenated. Now he was ready to fight again. And the thought of Zero taking all the credit for the fight enraged him. He did not want to be outdone by Zero. He phased off his Arm Cannon, wanting to settle this by fighting hand-to-hand. The adrenaline was inside Fefnir and red energy burst out of his body. Fefnir ran towards Zeus and leaped up high in the air. Zeus noticed this and he charged up one fist. Fefnir ignited his right fist with fire as he came down, and Zeus charged up his right fist with electricity. Fefnir threw a falling Flaming Fist at Zeus and the gargantuan threw a diagonal Thunder Punch. The fists collided together and the elemental energies from both fists came together and caused a large explosion.

Even in the smoke of the explosion, Fefnir and Zeus were still fighting. The red energy grew as Fefnir attacked Zeus with many punches. Zeus blocked with his left hand and swung low with his right arm. The Bellicose Bruiser jumped up to avoid the arm and double-fisted punched Zeus' face. The gargantuan staggered back, fixing his gas mask on. Fefnir wouldn't let him, so he repeatedly swung at Zeus with lefts and rights. Zeus was lacking in energy, so he felt every single hit. Even the armor he wore was giving out.

"Come on big man! Show me what you got!" Fefnir gloated while he was fighting, and it seemed to work.

Needing energy, Zeus slapped Fefnir away while he was gloating. Fefnir fell to the ground, but he wasn't injured. Zeus used this time to head for the machine for more power, but Zero stood next to it.

"I don't think so." Zero sliced it into pieces with his Z-saber and it blew up.

Now Zeus had no way of regaining energy. Zero fired a charged Split Shot at Zeus' face and all three shots hit right on target. Zeus staggered back again, but was met by Fefnir.

"Forgot about me?" Fefnir swung again with repeated lefts and rights all over Zeus' body. The armor started to crack now. The Bellicose Bruiser smirked and picked up Zeus. His strength had increased greatly. With a mighty throw, Zeus hit the ground hard, flying a few feet away. Fefnir phased on both of his Arm Cannons. With no energy to bring up a Thunder Barrier, Zeus was open for any kind of attack. Fefnir charged up his Arm Cannons and laughed.

"Where's your damn barrier now huh?" Fefnir shot several Blast Shots at Zeus, this time each hitting him, exploding on the gargantuan armor and blowing some layers of it off. Others hit Zeus' forearms while others hit his face. The explosion radius grew with every shot. The smoke clouded the room, but Fefnir wasn't finished yet. He phased off his Arm Cannons and yelled. The red energy around him grew twice in size as the ground started to shake.

"Hellfire!" A large pillar of lava sprouted up from the ground where Zeus was and covered him inside the pillar. Even layers of armor could not stand against lava. Surely Zeus would be melted by the time Fefnir was done with his attack. But Fefnir still wasn't done. The Guardian phased his Arm Cannons back on. Fire started to sprout from the barrels of the cannons. He aimed them both at the pillar of lava Zeus was in.

"Heat Viper!" Two streams of fire blast out of the cannon and headed for the pillar. When it blended into the pillar, it became round and started to grow bigger. Then it exploded forming a large pillar of fire and lava. The explosion was very great, so Zero had to run away from the blast radius so he wouldn't get melted. The shock rocked the room and melted most of the rock on the ground.

The area where the pillar formed was now a pool of fiery hot lava. Zero tried to shake off what just happened. He had never seen Fefnir attack like _that_ before. All he could do was just stare in awe.

Fefnir smirked and flexed his muscles, emphasizing his masculinity. He had to admit, he never did an attack like that before. Was the Cyber-elf that must of a power boost? Whether or not it was, Fefnir admitted that the Cyber-elf attributed _some _part into Fefnir's sudden win. But his victory was short-lived.

There was a small strip of rock in the center of the pool of lava. Zeus stood with his armor charred-black and steam coming out of his body. His gas mask was also charred, but it wasn't melted. Even with the intense heat of the attack, Zeus still lived. Fefnir and Zero couldn't believe their eyes. This reploid was very, very tough!

"You know, this armor wasn't meant for protection. It was a restraint." He grabbed the gauntlets on his hands and took them off. When he did, the skin on his hands was burned due the hot gauntlets, but he didn't flinch. He threw them onto the ground below him, and the ground shook when they landed. Each must have weighed hundreds of pounds. Then he grabbed the large ring around his neck and threw it in the pool of lava. It didn't melt, but it did sink down. Drops of lava splashed when it was in the lava, and a large wave was made from it as well. It must have weighed close to a ton, if not half.

Only the gas mask remained. His hand was much larger than his head, so Zeus simply flicked the mask off. It fell into the lava and sunk. The Gargantuan had a hideous face. He had black eyes, iris and all. His snout stuck out and he had whiskers coming out of the sides. His black nose sniffed the smell of molten lava. His ears stuck up. Zero and Fefnir couldn't believe it. Zeus had a face of a _rat_! Although he looked like a combination of a muscular gargantuan and a rat face, now he had a squeakier voice. However, it was less intimidating with the rat's mouth moving.

"You never expected this, did you? Well, this is my true form." Zeus raised his arms into the air, trying to touch the sky. Suddenly, a bolt of thunder came from the ceiling (which was far up) and electrocuted Zeus. With that spark of electricity, Zeus' body started to expand. He growled as he body grew bigger, wider, taller. Zero and Fefnir could only watch as Zeus grew twenty times his own size. Now they had to deal with a giant electric rodent (sound familiar?)!

Zero frowned, not liking the situation he was currently in. Zeus stood towering over them several stories high. He knew there must be some way to beat him, regardless of size. _Size doesn't matter_.

Fefnir, however, didn't agree. His knees were shaking uncontrollably. He ran out of the room with his tail between his legs. Zero couldn't believe it. A moment ago Fefnir was taking the fight head-on, but now off he went. Now only Zero stood against Zeus. It was one-on-one. Zeus laughed his hearty laugh, which echoed through the entire room.

"I knew that fool would show his true colors." Zeus lifted up his leg and brought it down towards Zero.

Zero switched into his Active Form and dashed out of the way before he was going to get squashed. Zeus stuck a finger at Zero and charged it up with electricity The veins in his arms pulsated up and were showing. They acted as wires to bring the electricity to Zeus' finger. A bolt of lightning shot out of his finger at headed straight for Zero. The Legendary Maverick Hunter was in no condition to avoid attacks like that, so he was struck by lightning.

"Argh!" Zero was shot back into a wall. His armor only had a layer left before it gave away fully and his body was getting numb. There was no way he could possibly beat down Zeus now. At least, not without some more help.

The room started to shake, but Zeus wasn't even moving. Something else, something big was making the ground shake.

That's when something large broke through the wall. It was a large red…robot? It's armor was bright red. Its helmet was a darker red, and it had a V symbol on it. A large Arm Cannon was equipped on its left arm while its right was bare. The robot looked very similar to Fefnir, and the robot matched Zeus for his size.

"Now it's time to really heat things up!" It was Fefnir speaking using the robot's speaker. The Bellicose Bruiser now had a giant robot to control. "Let's go! Fefnir-Bot 5!" The gigantic robot posed and flexed its titanium muscles.

_Now I've seen everything._ Zero didn't know whether to be impressed or to be laughing. He did a combination of both.

Fefnir-Bot 5 ran up to Zeus and delivered a strong right hook to Zeus' rat face. The impact of the punch shook the entire room. Zeus retaliated by grabbing Fefnir-Bot 5's neck and choke-slamming it into a wall. Zero was on the ground, and he tried his best to get out of the way. Fefnir-Bot 5 aimed his Giant Arm Cannon at Zeus' face and shot a Blast Shot at point-blank range. Zeus staggered back, but he remained unharmed. In his true form, he had electricity flowing through his body, so fire attacks were completely useless now. Zeus head-butted Fefnir-Bot 5 and rammed him deeper into the wall. Next, he grabbed Fefnir-Bot 5's head and squeezed it. The head was where Fefnir was controlling the bot, and the space around him was closing in fast. In desperation, he hit a red button on the control panel and Fefnir-Bot 5 kneed Zeus in the groin area.

Zeus really felt it there that time. He snapped back, clutching his crotch with his hands. Zero recognized on opportunity. If Fefnir were to fight hand-to-hand, the fight would drag on. But, if Zero were to limit Zeus' power, Fefnir could attack with fire and it would be effective. So Zero decided he would travel on Zeus' body and cut the veins that supplied him with power. The Daring Maverick Hunter climbed the wall using his Recoil Rod as a brace. When Zeus came into range, Zero jumped off of the wall and onto Zeus' shoulder. He was a flea compared to Zeus. The gargantuan had no idea that Zero was on him.

Fefnir didn't, either. Fefnir-Bot 5 just kept swinging punches left to right at Zeus, and Zero had to hold on for his dear life. He used his communicator to contact Fefnir.

"Damn it Fefnir! Settle down! I'm on Zeus, you know!" Zero spoke into the communicator.

"Holy shit really? What are you doing on him?" Fefnir said to Zero as he pushed Zeus' face into a wall.

"I'm going to cut off his power sources. Until then, keep him busy, but _don't _knock me over!"

"Whatever." Fefnir choked Zeus by the neck, keeping him still for a few seconds. Zero was already standing on a vein, so he used the Sharp Edge technique to leap up and stab the vein with an Ice attack. The saber sunk through, and Zero gave it a jerk to the right and sliced off one vein. There were a few more major veins to cut off, and that should be enough to bring Zeus' power down.

Unfortunately, Zeus recovered from the low blow and elbowed the Fefnir-Bot in the stomach area. This knocked it back a few feet away, and Zeus connected with a swinging right hook. Following that, Zeus rammed Fefnir-Bot into a wall and electrocuted the Fefnir-Bot using his hands. It was less effective than its full power, but it got the job done. Fefnir was also electrocuted inside his bot, and the vitality level grew lower. _Damn it Zero hurry up!_

Three veins were already cut while Fefnir-Bot took some hits. Now only two more remained. Zero dashed to a vein on Zeus' left arm, but he moved too soon. Zeus body-slammed Fefnir-Bot, throwing Zero out of position. He nearly fell to the ground, but he used his Recoil Rod to catch himself on Zeus' knee. With quick reflexes, he shot his Chain Rod at Zeus' underarm. Zeus was about to knee Fefnir-Bot, but before he could Zero swung with his Chain Rod all the way over Zeus' arm and landed on top of it. A quick slash of his Z-saber was all he needed to take out that vein. Now the only one left was on Zeus' neck. The Blond Bomber dashed towards Zeus' neck, almost there.

Just then, Zeus used energy stocked before the veins were cut and shot two bolts of thunder at Fefnir-Bot 5. The shots electrocuted the bot and the vitality nose-dived. The meter read 30 on Fefnir's screen.

"Damn!" Fefnir pounded on the controls. Not only did his vitality level drop, but his bot had no more energy to launch some fire attacks. He only had enough for one last attack.

Zero was falling off of Zeus' shoulder after being shaken like that. As he fell, he drew his Chain Rod once more and had about one second to aim and fire. He threw the Chain Rod towards Zeus' neck and the tip stabbed right into the last vein. The Legendary Maverick Hunter hung from the Chain Rod. With one final tug, he yanked the vein out and it ripped off of Zeus' skin. Zero fell down below and landed on the ground with a thud. His armor was totally wasted now. He activated his communicator and said to Fefnir, "Do it now! Finish him!"

Fefnir listened and pushed Zeus away. Then he aimed his Arm Cannon at Zeus for one final blast. There were five bars on the Arm Cannon, and each filled up one at a time. The first one filled up. Then the second one filled up. Zeus was back to his feet. Without energy, he couldn't put up a Thunder Barrier, nor withstand fire attacks head-on. The third bar filled up. Zeus roared loudly and started to run towards Fefnir-Bot 5. The fourth one filled up. Just as Zeus was about to punch out Fefnir-Bot 5, Fefnir activated the speaker and yelled, "Level 5 Blast Shot!" The fifth bar filled up.

The shot came right out and hit Zeus right on the spot. The resulting explosion knocked him back into a wall. However, he was still active.

"Damn! That was the last amount of attacking energy I have left!" Fefnir pounded on the controls.

_Crap, we're doomed!_ Zero knew of nothing else to do.

But Fefnir did. He used the Fefnir-Bot 5 to tackle Zeus and grab a hold of him. "I have one attack left to finish this guy. But, it will be my last attack." Fefnir smirked. "I'm going to detonate Fefnir-Bot 5 so I can take this guy out!"

"Fefnir no! You'll be destroyed along with Zeus and the bot!" Zero said.

"Whatever! As long as this Zeus guy goes out too! I'm not going to lose this one!" Fefnir paused. "Zero…tell everyone I'm sorry. I know it's not the smartest thing to do, but it has to be done!"

Fefnir-Bot 5 grew with red energy bursting out of its armor. Fefnir opened the cockpit window so Zero could see him. He waved at Zero, flashing a smile similar to the smile Satick had.

"Level Five Eruption!" The Fefnir-Bot 5 illuminated with red energy until it exploded. Smoke crowded the entire room and the top of the room was blown off. The Temple of Fire shook violently as lava burst out and flowed into rivers traveling throughout the Temple.

When the explosion had past, Zero rose from the gravel. He looked around the Temple, but all he found were parts of the Fefnir-Bot 5 and parts of Zeus, who was successfully destroyed by Fefnir. But at what cost?

Zero found Fefnir's Arm Cannon on the ground. It was charred and broken, but Zero picked it up. The Legendary Maverick Hunter sighed and placed it where parts of Zeus lay.

"Your sacrifice was not in vain, Fefnir. Rest in peace, friend." As he turned to teleport back to base, he stepped on something. It felt like something hard, and it made a muffled groan sound. Zero looked under his feet and saw that he was stepping on Fefnir's face! The Bellicose Bruiser was unconscious, but alive! Zero couldn't believe it.

"That was one hell of a fake death. On a scale of one to five, I would give you a five. Five for Fighting Fefnir." He smirked and saw the maintenance mechaniloids hovering over Fefnir. He activated his communicator and called the Operators.

"Trans me back. Fefnir will be staying at his Temple." Zero disappeared in a white flash of light.

It would seem Fefnir made the ultimate sacrifice. And he lived. He said to himself he wasn't good, but he fooled himself. Not many can die a heroic death and come back. It was as if he never died at all.

Author: Well, this has been by far the longest chapter I've typed so far. I've changed my e-mail address, but FFN won't let me change it in my profile. Sigh. I'm going to keep trying, so don't e-mail me just yet. Read and review please, and the next one will be coming soon!


	13. The Hottest Stars Burn Blue

Author: Hello readers. Nothing much to say, just thanks for the reviews and Happy Holidays. So Fefnir had his battle, so who's next? Well, read on!

Disclaimer: I do not own MMZ. Capcom owns that. I do own Dex, Max, Sam, Zeus and the other two Silhouettes. I also own the Red Revolver gang (except for Axl).

_The Hottest Stars Burn Blue_

**"You've got to be kidding me."**

Harpuia sat across from the waiting room table looking at Zero, trying to comprehend Zero's description of the battle against Zeus. Zero was still resting to heal the wounds, but he could still talk and walk. When he got back, most of his mechanical nerves were ultra sensitive after the violent electric shocks during the battle. When Cerveau and Rocinolle were repairing the nerves, which they do by opening up the skin and fixing the nerves, if Zero felt the air pass when Cerveau or Rocinolle, he would yelp, or sometimes even laugh because it tickled so much. Most of the Resistance members who walked by were always wondering who was laughing.

Now the nerves were finally fixed, but Zero was a bit edgy. If Harpuia made so much as a sudden move, Zero would be surprised or jump right out of his chair. The Guardian was still trying to get the idea in his head that Fefnir fought so well. He never doubted Fefnir's abilities; it was just he never thought Fefnir was capable of attacks like what he's heard. Or even having that Fefnir-Bot 5. Harpuia always wondered why Fefnir spent so much time in the local factory. He always assumed Fefnir would be on duty or playing videogames while Leviathan wasn't around.

Speaking of whom, Leviathan had gotten around base very well. At least, well with all of the male reploids. She had their attention with a tight vice grip, and anytime she wanted it she would yank their leash and they would come running. The females, however, were as jealous as their green envy would allow them. They never stood up to her though, mainly because she was capable of battle and the female 'ploids were not. This was one of Leviathan's edges, as well as the curves she had while others did not (or the curves were a bit bigger than most).

Harpuia had the exact it opposite attention with all the males. The females, however, would be cooing about his looks when he was there and when he wasn't there. This took their minds of the mindless males who gawked at Leviathan. They had something to coo at, and Harpuia was oblivious to this. Of course, this made them coo even more. It was so strange that opposite sides of a war can interact somewhat peacefully. Perhaps they met the terms of the truce, but even Zero didn't think they'd be this comfortable.

Zero, however, was not in much comfort ever since the Guardians came. Max would always start complaining to Zero about why the Guardians treated the Resistance like their own, referring mostly to Harpuia, who would walk in and out of the Command Room like it was okay. And it was, but Max didn't want to believe it. The other problem was Leviathan, who would always find time to eye Zero and gesture flirtatiously at him. And every time she did so, it was always around Ciel. Not very relieving, especially when Ciel got really mad and puffed up her cheeks pink like she had two strawberries as cheeks. Zero would never say that to Ciel, or else he would have a large strawberry cheek pulsating on one side.

He never admitted he liked Leviathan's gestures, although he never admitted he didn't like it either. It was sort of a guilty pleasure seeing Ciel getting jealous over him, and at the same time Leviathan focusing her attention onto him. If only he could do the same. After the dream, he could hardly look at her straight in the eye without imagining her nude. The hormones in him were jumping jellybeans. He never saw Ciel arousing, but only as a person to protect. That could be the reason why he never thought of her the way he thought of Leviathan. Yet still, he likes the way Ciel looks very cute and comforting. If there were ever a triangle as acute as this, the Zero/Ciel/Leviathan triangle would be the most interesting.

Harpuia noticed Zero spacing out. He always he a way of knowing what Zero was thinking or trying to say with his body. They both never found it odd, mainly because they had gotten used to it now. Of course, it was never hard to tell when Zero was thinking about Leviathan or Ciel. It might as well be written across his face. Harpuia found this amusing, however.

"Levi has one hell of a body, huh?" Harpuia smirked, trying to pique Zero's interest.

"Yep." Zero nodded.

It took him about three seconds to figure out what he had just said.

"I mean…damn." Zero snapped his fingers.

Harpuia laughed. "Try to focus would you, Zero?" Harpuia always had things being handed to him, always being kept busy. Whether it was Neo Arcadia or Zero or Reploforce, he was always busy. He never had time to think about pure leisure time, unless it was for training. Even then, the training was just for beating Zero. Now that he mentioned it, he did try to imagine Leviathan naked, since Zero was. He never really saw her that way; it was either nagging or more nagging. The Emerald Guardian finally noticed after teasing Zero that Leviathan had a built body. He admitted that. Now he could also see why Leviathan was so alluring to other reploids males. He wouldn't admit to himself that he was one of them, but he knew she was "okay looking."

Now it was Zero's turn to notice Harpuia spacing out. He was also blushing a shade of vermilion as well.

"Now who's focusing?" Zero crossed his arms.

"I'm thinking of an attack strategy." Harpuia said rather too quickly.

**Change of scene**

"This is fun!" Alouette giggled.

"You almost got it. Now, when you walk like that, flip your hair back like this." Leviathan flipped her hair with her left hand, loosening up her firmness and also shaking her head for emphasis. Alouette tried after her, and she did it perfectly.

"Wonderful. You'll demand attention with that." Leviathan smiled and patted her head.

"You really think so?" Alouette looked up at Leviathan curiously.

"I know so."

"What _are_ you teaching her?" Zero leaned against the wall of the room since the doors were open.

"Fighting techniques to damage a male's pressure point. What me to demonstrate?" Leviathan tilted her head.

"No thanks." Zero crossed his arms.

"Oh, what's that necklace you're wearing?" Alouette stared at the sapphire jewel on Leviathan's necklace.

"It's called 'The Tears of Sát'u,' who was a powerful water goddess. People say that these sapphire jewels were her actual tears, which were colder than the coldest ice. Although if you touch them, they aren't cold."

Alouette was in awe as she rubbed the jewels. It seemed like one big jewel when put together, but they were two separate pieces. They both were embedded onto the small necklace plate.

"Why is it two pieces?" Alouette wondered.

"I suppose it broke, but it still looks good. Wouldn't you agree, Zero?" Leviathan twirled around like a model on a catwalk.

"Fabulous. Now for the money shot!" He made a camera with his fingers and clicked.

Alouette found this amusing and laughed.

"Can I wear it?" She patted her hands together.

Leviathan looked at her necklace. "When I don't need it anymore, yes you can. Don't worry, that time will come soon."

Alouette jumped up and down, content and excited at the same time.

"Whoops! I forgot I needed to see Ciel! Bye, Leviathan! Bye Zero!" She ran out of the room quickly, leaving Zero and Leviathan alone.

"She's a cutie." Leviathan smiled and looked at Zero. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Zero noticed her voice was more playful with Alouette. Now that she left, her voice was more calm, but less playful.

"Yep." Zero kept his composure as well, but he wondered why the sudden change in tone.

"By the way, how was Fefnir after the battle?"

"Well, he successfully managed a fake death. At least, he fooled me for a while. Right now I bet he's getting some treatment, but there are still two more of those guys left."

"From what I heard, the gargantuan you fought was a…rat?"

"Well, he had a rat's face. It was hard to fight him seriously. He still packed quite a punch, though." Zero rubbed his back gently with one hand, wincing a little bit. The pain was still there from Zeus' attack.

Leviathan walked towards Zero slowly. With each step she took, her voice grew into a whisper.

"Can you resist temptation Zero?"

"Depends what kind of temptation."

Leviathan smiled as she got closer and closer to Zero. "I'm talking about wanting to do something, even though you know it's wrong. Do you do it anyways?"

"Like what?"

"Let's say you want to get closer to a certain someone on an opposite side." Her face was about five inches away from Zero's. "Even though you know it's bad, would you do it?"

Zero remembered that before he wanted to know Iris better, but she was on Reploforce. That didn't stop him, however. Was this the same situation?

"Maybe."

Now their lips were about half an inch away from each other.

"I know a perfect example of that kind of temptation." Her voice was a soft whisper.

Zero felt himself inch a little closer.

Leviathan pulled her whole body back and spoke with her regular voice again.

"The kind I'm talking about is trying to fight those Reploforce guys in your condition right now. You're getting better soon so don't rush it. Tempting, isn't it?" She walked out of the room. Before she left, she gave Zero an alluring look and left.

Not the kind of temptation Zero was thinking, but she did have one thing right. He needed rest, and tomorrow they would start. He headed to his room and fell on his bed. He looked at the clock. It read 4:32 PM.

**Change of scene**

"I dun belleve dat Zoos got beat!" The short figure paced left and right in front of the medium figure. The two had just realized one of their comrades had fallen to Zero and one of the Guardians. The short was incredulous about the entire thing. Zeus had been one of the strongest they've known. The short one seems to think so, and was also thinking aloud. The medium one, however, kept to herself and feigned attention to the short one. She herself was shocked that Zeus had lost, but more sad than shocked. Zeus was the only one she could relate with. Now that he was gone, she couldn't talk to anybody. At least, anybody who was worth the time.

She had enough of the short one, and she hadn't even talked to him yet. "Just go to a Temple. We'll take care of the rest."

The short one nodded and walked away. Now the medium figure was alone. She noticed she stood by the very same gate that Zeus had made a small dent on. She rubbed it gently.

"When it's over…it's over." She walked away.

**Change of scene**

Zero woke up 24 hours later. Aside from being in a stasis capsule, he had never slept like that before! He got into his battle armor and put his helmet on. Right when he got out of bed, he was wide-awake. He didn't notice how fast he was changing. The Legendary Maverick Hunter walked out of his room and headed for the Command Room. Leviathan was leaning on the wall outside of the hall.

"Ready to go?"

"Woke up ready." Zero smirked.

They both stepped near the doors and they slid open. Most of the Resistance was seeing Zero and Leviathan out, especially the male reploids. As they walked to the center, Leviathan caught a glimpse of Ciel. She always had fun with her, using Zero to constantly tick her off. Today was no exception. Leviathan locked her arm around Zero's and flustered flirtatiously.

"Oh Zero darling! Please protect me from those big bad boys!" Leviathan tilted her head towards Zero.

"Er…sure." Zero didn't know what Leviathan was doing, but Ciel sure as hell did. She puffed up her cheeks and they grew bright red (think Jigglypuff). Leviathan saw this and she had an even more devious plan.

As they arrived at the center, the Operators quickly briefed them and the alarm went off. Right before they were about to be teleported, Leviathan embraced Zero. She tapped his butt gently.

"What a Legendary Maverick Hunting butt!"

Ciel was about to lunge for Leviathan right there had they not disappear in a bright flash of light.

**Change of scene**

"What was that for?" Zero looked at Leviathan suspiciously while trying to hide his vermilion cheeks. He was unsuccessful.

Leviathan blinked at Zero innocuously. "What do you mean?"

Zero sighed. "Never mind. Let's go."

They both stood before the pool of water. They were inside the Temple of Ice. The walls were laced with ice while the pillars were frozen solid. Despite this, the water was not frozen. It was probably borderline freezing temperature, but the cold water wasn't going to affect Zero or Leviathan. Quite frankly, Leviathan liked it freezing cold.

"Ladies first." Zero gestured for Leviathan to dive first.

Leviathan dived in gracefully. Zero followed after her and dived in regularly.

There was much more room to swim in than Zero thought. There were spike traps, but Leviathan and Zero easily avoided them. However, there were hardly any enemies. This immediately piqued Zero's suspicion. _Where are the enemies?_

Surely enough, his answer came. Leviathan shot her hand out. "Stop!"

Zero stopped and looked at her. "What?"

Suddenly, holes opened from the ground and many harpoons shot out. They all were aimed towards Zero and Leviathan. The Legendary Maverick Hunter drew his Triple Rod out and spun it around him. It sliced away any harpoons that came into range. Oddly enough, none of the harpoons were aimed for Leviathan. After the harpoon attack stopped, two Ice Serpents burst out from the ground and headed for Zero. He was about to blast them away with his Z-buster, but Leviathan motioned for them to stop.

The serpents stopped completely and instead headed towards Leviathan. They smiled while she petted them.

"They're yours?" Zero crossed his arms.

"Yep. I must say, though, I was saving that trap for you personally. Oh well." She smiled like it was a practical joke. In a way, it was. More or less a joke, that is. Leviathan ordered for the serpents to give them a ride. However, Leviathan only wanted to ride one. One went back into the hole while the other stayed. They both hopped onto the serpent and off it went. Zero had to ride backseat while Leviathan had front. Of course, there was nothing else for Zero to hold on except for Leviathan. So, he had to hold onto her or else he'd get thrown off.

"You're ruining my concentration. Slide your hands lower so I can maneuver more."

Zero slid his hands lower, now holding onto her hips.

"Slide your hands between my legs. That'll have a better grip."

He slid his hands in until he was touching her thighs. That was quite a provocative position, and he didn't understand why the grip would be better there. Then he realized, it would actually be worse.

The serpent swam up into a tunnel. The force of the shift in direction threw Zero off of the serpent, since he was only holding onto Leviathan's thighs. He fell off and was about to get left behind. Before he reached the end of the serpent, he took out his Recoil Rod. He stabbed the Recoil Rod into the tail of the serpent and held on for his dear life. The serpent didn't seem to mind, but Leviathan looked back and giggled at Zero. He fell for yet another little "trap."

The serpent finally reached his destination. Leviathan and Zero jumped off, now standing right before the door that lead to the second Reploforce Guardian. Leviathan petted the serpent and off it went. So now they were about to go right inside.

"Ladies first." Zero gestured for Leviathan to go first.

"Right." Leviathan gestured for Zero to go first.

They both ended up going in at the same time. The door slid open and inside was just a room full of more water. Was the Reploforce Guardian an aquatic fighter?

They both swam inside and saw a figure in a black cloak stand in the center of the room. It was the Reploforce Guardian.

Leviathan and Zero immediately drew their weapons.

The figure in the black cloak snapped his fingers and lit a small flame on his index finger. The flame had no chance to survive in cold water, but it did. It burned as if it were burning around air. The doors behind Leviathan and Zero closed, sealing off a way out. The figure cradled the flame in the palm of his hand, and it grew bigger. It kept growing until he cupped it with both hands. When he released his hands, the flame engulfed the entire room and evaporated all of the water. Because of the water, Zero and Leviathan were not burned, but now they were fighting on land once more.

The flame also burned off the cloak.

The reploid stood short, about up to Zero's chest. He wore an odd design for armor. The helmet he wore looked like a metallic beanie, and the chest plate he wore fitted his upper body, including his arms. The Reploforce sign was on the left-hand corner, and he wore rings with an orange-red jewel on the center. He wore them on all four fingers in each hand, and even the thumbs had one. The armor for his lower body resembled pants that were sagged low. The armor was flexible as if it were regular cloth.

Reploforce Red-hot Wankstah

**Flair**

"So ju da bizatches dat beat Zoos? Ima fry your asses! Da name's Flair, and now it's time tuh die!"

Flair raised his hands in the air and the ground shook. The ground around them crumbled and fell into a deep pool of lava. It rose until it barely was on level with the ground the three were standing on. The small island they had was about only about several yards. There was still room to maneuver, but not that much. Leviathan wiped the sweat off of her forehead. It was not advantageous to her being surrounded by molten lava and with the room temperature rising rapidly.

A pillar of lava came up from the ground and covered Flair with lava. The armor he wore began to glow, and his body became enveloped with fiery-red aura. It was his Inflammatory Body. Now things were really heating up.

"So, ju Ze-ruh, huh? Ima beat ju down right now! But fuhst…" Flair crossed his arms over his thighs and smiled. A gold tooth glinted inside his mouth as a pillar of lava rose from under Leviathan and pushed her into the pool of lava outside of the little island.

"Leviathan!" Zero ran over to try to save her, but it was too late. She drowned under the pool of lava.

"Shit!" Zero pounded the ground under him, his fist burning a little bit form the hot ground.

"Now it's one-on-one fo'!" Flair crossed his arms and smirked triumphantly.

_Leviathan…I'm so sorry._ The Enraged Maverick Hunter clenched his fist and glared at Flair. "You're going to pay for that."

He equipped the Thunder Chip and transformed into Active Form. He drew his Z-saber and stood in a defensive position.

"Let's go."

Flair nodded as the His Inflammatory Body grew larger and he made his hands into fists. The jewels on his rings glowed a red light. Then little sparks of fire came shooting out of the rings. Zero ran away from them, each one missing their mark. Flair stopped shooting when Zero got closer. The Maverick Hunter slashed vertically. The Wankstah simply sidestepped and avoided the entire attack. Before Zero could combo off of the attack, he felt his armor melting. He realized that if he got too close he would burn up. Flair was too hot to attack at melee range.

Flair, however, was mostly melee-minded. He dashed towards Zero and started to throw punches. Each time a fist went flying by, Zero dodged it, but he felt the heat wave pass him by every time. It was getting too hot. Flair noticed this, and Zero was slowing down. The Wankstah feigned another punch at Zero and lead with a swift right kick. The kick wasn't that strong, but it was burning hot. When it made contact with Zero's shin, most of the armor he wore there began to melt. Before Zero could yell in pain, Flair leaped up high and backhanded Zero in the face with his left hand. The rings also hit Zero in the face, causing major scorch marks. The Blond Bomber fell to the ground.

Flair was going to kick Zero again, but before he could, Zero dashed right through Flair. The Maverick Hunter used his new "Shadow Dash" technique. The Wankstah was perplexed and turned around. He turned right into the barrel of Zero's Z-buster. Since he had the Thunder Chip in, Zero shot a fully charged Spark Shot and it blew up in Flair's face. The force of the blast blew him several feet away, since he was light, being short and all. Zero kept charging even after the attack.

Flair slowly got up from the ground, wiping the dirt off of his lip. The Inflammatory Body grew larger now, serving as an aura-shield. He crossed his arms and used the "Wankstah Gestuh." A pillar of lava came up from under him. He jumped onto the pillar and it shot towards Zero. Flair was surfing on the pillar. As he did, he shot more sparks from his rings. Zero fired his charged Spark Shot at the sparks of fire. The shot hit one of the fire sparks, and then the attack continued to hit all the other ones. When the pillar was about to hit him, Zero jumped and drew his Z-saber. He was going to slash Flair while he was surfing on the pillar of lava, but Flair anticipated this.

The Wankstah flipped Zero off and the ring he wore on his middle finger shot out a large fireball. It hit Zero, and sent him reeling into the air. When he fell down, Zero was near the edge of the lava. One inch more and he would have fallen into the lava. The Legendary Maverick Hunter almost forgot about Flair and the pillar of lava. He rolled to the side just before the pillar came crashing down next to him.

Zero kept dashing out of the way so the lava wouldn't touch him. Unfortunately, that attack melted the ground that was in that area, so now the little island grew smaller. Flair had jumped off of the pillar before it hit Zero. This time, he shot two streams of fire out of his palms. Zero saw the line margin between the two streams and ran into it. As he ran, he charged up his Recoil Rod. Flair brought the two streams even closer, and they were closing in on Zero. The Legendary Maverick Hunter timed the charged Recoil Rod attack and aimed it for the ground. The force of the attack shot Zero straight up and out of the attack.

In mid-air Zero shot his Chain Rod at Flair. It missed him, but it stabbed onto the ground. It was Zero's intention. He retracted the Chain Rod and he went straight for Flair. Before the Wankstah could move, Zero came flying towards Flair and kicked him in the face. The momentum from the Chain Rod retraction strengthened the force of his kick, but it was still hot. However, Zero could bear it.

Flair went flying away. He rolled and tumbled along the ground and fell into the pool of lava.

Zero fell to the ground on his knees. He was getting tired. "Is it over already?"

The ground shook once again. The lava came sprouting out and Flair jumped out. He somersaulted in mid-air and landed perfectly on his feet. The Inflammatory Body was restored, but Flair looked extremely pissed.

"Now ju gonna die! No mo' playin 'round!" He yelled and the entire room shook. The Inflammatory Body grew even larger. He clapped his hands together and formed a ball of fire between the palms of his hands. It grew larger and larger.

Zero charged up his Z-saber and dashed towards Flair. He was going to attack head-on.

Flair had finished charging his attack and released it. The "Bustin' Ball of Fire" flew way too fast for Zero to avoid, and it hit him. This caused a massive explosion and it melted the ground in that area. However, Zero survived by using Defense Form before the attack could hit him. He just kept right on dashing and eventually came into range with Flair. He had a fully charged saber, so he struck Flair with splash of Thunder elemental energy. This neutralized the Inflammatory Body, so now nothing protected him.

Zero used his right hand and grabbed The Wankstah's head. With a burst of electric energy, Zero used Zeus' attack, the "Electric Grip." Thousands of jolts of electricity electrocuted Flair, driving his nerves crazy. He took much damage from this attack, but Zero wasn't done. He threw Flair into the air. He changed into Active Form. With the added jump boost from the Active Form, he leaped up high into the air (really high) and grabbed Flair in mid-air. He quickly changed into Power Form and held Flair's body along his back. He turned upside-down and came falling back down.

That was also Zeus' attack, the "Thunder Buster." Zero slammed Flair into the ground. Since the Inflammatory Body wasn't there, Flair felt the full force of that attack. The armor he wore wasn't very thick, so his back was shattered.

Zero stood up, dusting off the dirt on his armor. There was no way Flair would be able to fight now. The fight was over.

"Leviathan, you've been avenged." Zero turned away and turned on his communicator. "Trans me back."

"Okay, just a sec." The Operators were going to trans him back, but they stopped. "Zero! There is a large enemy reading coming next to you! Look out!"

"Did you think I would be defeated that easily?"

Zero turned around. Flair was standing upright, but his voice changed. The accent was gone, but the voice sounded like it belonged to…

"The Phoenix will return, and he has!" A large aura of fire surrounded Flair's body in the form of a phoenix. "I, Phoenix Magnion, will destroy you, Zero!" The flame aura grew larger and Magnion bellowed with his voice. "I suppose you're wondering how I survived. Well, let's just say I'm a safety precaution if this little midget was retired."

Zero still had no idea how Phoenix Magnion survived (in spirit), but he was going to end this once and for all. Unfortunately, he was a bit languid after the Thunder Buster attack, and after taking damage from Flair. Now he had to deal with Phoenix Magnion using Flair's body.

Magnion wasted no time and flew after Zero. He was trying to bombard Zero with his "Phoenix Aura," but Zero rolled to the side just in time to barely avoid the attack. Magnion turned around and lifted one wing up.

"Flame Arrows!" Five arrows of fire shot out of the Phoenix Aura and headed straight for Zero.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter was able to jump over three, but two of the arrows hit his chest, melting the armor he had left. He collapsed on his knees. Zero only had a little bit of energy left, perhaps only enough to sustain Phoenix.

Magnion charged at Zero again using the "Phoenix Array" attack. He separated into fiery feathers. The feathers fluttered around Zero, trapping him inside a closed area. Then, the feathers came together once more and Magnion retook his form. Then he smacked Zero with one of his wings from the Phoenix Aura.

The attack completely melted some of Zero's armor, but luckily didn't go to his skin. However, he hardly had any armor left to protect himself the next time. He tumbled along the ground and stopped at the edge near the pool of lava. He struggled to get up.

"You're weak. I might as well finish you off right now." Flair's body began to glow a yellow luster. Phoenix Magnion increased the size of his Phoenix Aura. He completely disappeared, leaving no trace left.

Zero looked left and right looking for him. However, he didn't see him. Then he realized what attack Magnion was planning. Instinctively, he turned around and horizontally slashed with his Z-saber. Unfortunately, he just slashed air. After his attack, Magnion appeared right in front of his face and slapped him up in the air with one of his wings.

"Rising Phoenix!"

The Blond Bomber was helpless in mid-air, too weak and too burned out to fight back. Magnion flew up and used Flair's body to bombard Zero in mid-air. The Phoenix Aura burned Zero severely in the back, and Magnion kept right on flying until he slammed Zero into the ceiling.

Phoenix Magnion used Flair's arms to grab hold of Zero after the attack. Flame bodies sprouted out of Phoenix's Phoenix Aura. One body of Vile came out and few towards Zero. It made contact with Zero and burned him. Then, another flame body came out. It was a flame body of Dynamo, and it also collided with Zero. Then two flame bodies of Colonel and Sigma tackled Zero. When they all had attacked Zero, Magnion flew down into the ground, attempting to slam Zero deep into the ground and bury him under the pool of lava. You could have blinked and missed Magnion fly down. He slammed Zero into the ground and kept right on going after the ground had been penetrated. He kept flying until the lava buried them both.

Flair's body was almost all melted away, but Magnion flew up out of the lava just in time. He stayed up in the air, watching the lava flood in over the ground, melting almost everything. Now there was no land left; everything under Magnion was filled with lava.

"I have finally beaten Zero!" Phoenix Magnion shot flames out of his wings from his Phoenix Aura to celebrate. However, the celebration was too early.

A blue light shot out of the lava and parted it away. All the way down to the bottom, Zero stood, forcing the lava away. He was glowing with a cool blue aura, and he was not melted away.

"What! How are you able to still be standing?" Magnion was outraged.

The Maverick hunter himself didn't know how he survived, but he felt something poking at his butt. He reached into his thong (lack of better term) and pulled out a piece of a sapphire jewel. It was one piece of the Tears of Sát'u. Zero wondered how it got in there, but then he remembered. Leviathan had "tapped" his butt before they went, so she must have slipped in a piece of the jewel in for protection against fire. There was only one piece, so the other one must have been with…

A blast of blue light parted the lava away and cooled it into rock. Next to Zero, Leviathan stood leaning on her trident, patting her mouth and yawning.

"I was wondering when you would use it. I thought I was stuck in this pit for good."

Now the two pieces glowed a blue light. Leviathan couldn't fully activate hers until Zero activated his piece, so the piece that Leviathan had been only for protection, at least until Zero used his.

"Hand me your piece. I'm going to end this." Leviathan held out her hand.

Zero wasn't going to argue. He was completely worn out now, so he figured Leviathan had a plan to win. He threw the piece at her. She caught it and smirked.

"Let me show you who's really the hot one." Leviathan winked at Zero before putting the pieces together. They formed back into one whole sapphire jewel, and Leviathan placed them back into the necklace. She then burst with blue energy enveloping her entire body. He cooled off nearly all of the lava under Magnion.

"Foolish wench! I burn the hottest!" Magnion flared up and charged towards Leviathan.

The Bold Beauty twirled her trident and leaped towards Magnion.

They both were about to collide until Leviathan ducked in mid-air. Flair's body missed completely and Leviathan was unaffected by the fire of the Phoenix Aura. Magnion sailed over her. She used her quick reflexes and stabbed the sharp point of her trident into Flair's crotch.

"It this were my body, that would hurt very much right now" Magnion said and changed direction in mid-air also. He flapped his wings together and tried to hit Leviathan.

She easily avoided each attack in mid-air, as if she were floating in water. Each time Magnion attacked, his Phoenix Aura diminished little by little. Zero was shivering, clutching his arms. It was getting very cold.

Leviathan kicked Flair's face and his head went flying off. Magnion went flying into a wall. The Aura was melting ice that covered the wall, but the Aura was getting colder. Now headless, Magnion used whatever was left of Flair's body to continue attacking. He shot Flame Arrows out of his wing, but they slowly burned out before reaching Leviathan.

"Oh the weather inside is frightful," Leviathan twirled her trident above her head and the wind started to pick up.

"But it looks oh so delightful," Now the cooled rock turned into ice. It broke off and started to fly around the room, riding on a giant tornado Leviathan was creating.

"And since there's no place for you to go," Now the entire room was shaking. It got so cold that Zero could feel his body freeze.

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" A blast of blue energy blinded Zero as the entire room froze for a minute. Zero fell unconscious.

**Change of scene**

Ciel put a blanket over herself. She was in her lab, polishing her system up with a few more tweaks. It was getting a little cold.

"I wonder why it's a little chilly?"

**Change of scene**

"Wake up Zero."

Zero opened his eyes slowly. When they were fully opened, he found himself frozen in a kneeling position. He was frozen completely in ice, but some shards covered his entire body. He looked at the ground under him and saw that it was snow. Soft, slush snow. Then he looked up, and saw that it was snowing. Inside a room!

Leviathan stood and looked at Zero as if he were a sculpture. Then she averted her eyes to another sculpture.

What was left of Flair's body was frozen inside a huge sculpture of ice. The ice sculpture was actually Phoenix Magnion's Phoenix Aura, frozen. The Aura wasn't that large now. Leviathan walked over to it and scoffed.

"Only the hottest stars burn blue." Leviathan twirled her trident and sliced the sculpture. It took a couple of seconds for the attack to sink in and then the sculpture fell apart.

"Well, that was fun." Leviathan then brought her attention back to Zero, who was frozen on a kneeling position. Leviathan walked over to him and pointed her trident at him.

"How interesting. The Legendary Maverick Hunter at my feet, frozen and waiting to be killed. I can kill you right now, while I have the chance." She pulled the trident back and rested it on her shoulder. "But that's no fun."

If Zero were able to move his lips, he would have sighed with relief.

Leviathan crouched down and leveled with Zero. She gazed into his eyes.

"Remember Zero…" Her face drew closer to Zero's. Her lips were almost touching his.

"Your life belongs to me, and only me. Don't let anyone else take it away from you. But me." She slowly drew her lips closer and closer to Zero's, her eyes closed. Zero could already feel himself melting the ice from all the heat he was feeling right now.

Just before their kiss, Zero disappeared in a bright flash of light. Leviathan opened her eyes and looked around. She had missed her chance.

"Almost got him." The Bold Beauty leaned against her trident and enjoyed the falling snow.

Author: Another chapter done. Just in time for winter as well! Happy Holidays!


	14. Essence of Emerald

Author: Juggling school projects, Christmas shopping, and computers problems aren't easy. But when you have a giant robot on your side…it doesn't change anything. Anyway, I apologize if you readers were expecting another weekly update. A few problems came up and I had to delay the next update. So here it is!

Disclaimer: I do not own the MMZ series. Capcom owns that. I do own Dex, Sam, Max, the Red Revolver gang (excluding Axl), Zeus, Flair, and the last Silhouette.

_Essence of Emerald_

**A bright light materialized into Zero in the center of the Command Room. He was still in his kneeling position, and there were still some ice shards on his body he had to shake off. He was still trying to recall what had just happened a few seconds ago. Leviathan was about to kiss him before he left. Or was she trying to kill him? Possibly both?**

Ciel came running up to him right away.

"Zero! Are you all right? You look…" She stopped and examined his body. "I'll get Cerveau to repair you." Her voice was with less worry and emotion at that time.

"Ciel, what's the mat-" Zero started to say but Ciel was walking off.

Two reploid soldiers came and carried Zero to the Maintenance Room for repairs. On the way, Zero saw Harpuia waiting beside the door. They exchanged glances, and Harpuia's face seemed to say, "Boy, you're in trouble now." Zero wondered what that meant but he had already been carried to the Command Room.

A couple of hours later Zero stared at the wall, lying down in the Maintenance bed. He replayed what happened between him and Leviathan like it was a video, rewinding and rewinding. Zero, the Legendary Maverick Hunter was brilliant in battle, but he couldn't figure out what Leviathan was trying to do. To add to that, he also tried to figure out why Ciel seemed so different when he came back.

Usually, Ciel would be all over him, making sure he was okay and not hurt. She would come into the Maintenance Room with him until Cerveau and Rocinolle operated. She showed her concern for Zero greatly.

However, today was different. During the course of the repair, Ciel didn't come into the Maintenance Room. She didn't even wait outside for Zero. She was in her lab, still trying to find errors in her Ciel System to fix.

This piqued Zero's mind. _Why was she acting like that? Did I say something? Did I do something wrong?_

Just as he was thinking, the doors slid open. Zero bolted straight up, hoping it was Ciel who came in. Unfortunately, it was Harpuia, coming in to check on his rival. The Emerald Guardian sat himself down on a chair next to Zero and shook his head.

"You are the Heartbreak Reploid, you know that?" Harpuia smirked.

"What do you mean?" Zero crossed his arms.

"Don't tell me you don't know! You're juggling two women here! One tries to get your attention but doesn't seem to have much luck, and the other does get your attention but waits for you to make a move! The one thing that's odd is that you don't make a move yourself. I think you know who they are."

Zero thought about this. "So I suppose you're green with envy?"

Harpuia frowned.

"Just kidding." Zero did realize whose heart he was breaking, however. All at once he felt guilt and stupidity. _How could I have not seen it from the beginning?_

Harpuia raised a brow. "I didn't think Leviathan would plant one on you so easily, Zero."

"Huh?" Zero looked in the mirror noticed faded blue lipstick on his lips. _She didn't…_

"Yes, she did. Nice one, Zero." He chuckled a bit, finding Zero's slow realization to be quite amusing.

The abashed Maverick Hunter turned and walked out of the room. Just before he was out of the room, he turned to Harpuia for a quick remark.

"You're just jealous because you didn't get any." Then Zero dashed to Ciel's lab.

"Yeah, right." Harpuia crossed his arms and sat down on the chair. He couldn't admit to himself that he was indeed jealous.

_Damn it! Stupid, stupid, stupid, Zero!_ The Heartbreak Reploid stood outside of Ciel's lab. The doors slid open.

Ciel was sitting in her chair on the computer, as usual, typing. This time however, it didn't seem she was working on the Ciel System. This time, it seemed as if she was typing some other document, like her diary or perhaps a story (A/N: One like this.) She didn't even say anything to Zero as he came in. She just kept on typing and typing and typing. The paucity of emotion showed in her face; she looked like a mindless mechanloid.

Zero tried to say something. "Hey Ciel."

Ciel grabbed her mug of coffee and sipped it. When she put it down, she tersely said, "Hello." She didn't even look at Zero!

The Blond Bomber felt a pungent stab of guilt inside him. Before he went any further, he wiped the lipstick off of his lips. _Damn Leviathan._ He walked over towards Ciel and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Ciel."

"For?"

"You know what for."

Ciel got up and shoved away Zero's hand. She turned to him with an angry face. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Well then, why don't you just go with Leviathan then!"

"Wait!"

She started to run out of the room, but Zero grabbed her arm. He pulled her into himself and held her head to his chest. Ciel was about to try to break out of it, but she stopped trying. She cried on his chest, sobbing as she spoke.

"Do you dislike me, Zero?"

"Of course not, Ciel! I wouldn't be here if I didn't like you! Besides, Leviathan kissed me while I was unconscious, so it didn't count."

Ciel looked up at Zero with her watery eyes.

"Really?"

"Really."

Ciel hugged Zero. "Oh Zero, I'm so sorry. It was just that…I…"

"It's alright Ciel."

Ciel looked up at Zero again. This time, her eyes were no longer flooded with tears of any kind. In fact, she was smiling brightly. Zero found this to be quite cute, and his gut told him now was the perfect time to kiss her.

He gently touched Ciel's chin and pulled her in slowly until…

A loud thud came out of nowhere from outside.

_I'm not going to get mushu from anybody today aren't I?_ Zero let go of Ciel and ran out to investigate. Ciel just watched as he ran out, smiling brightly, but flushed with cheeks of pink.

Surely enough, across the hall Zero saw Max against the wall, wiping off some blood from his nose. On the other side, Harpuia was cracking his knuckles. He had a hard, cold battle-face, while Max was enraged. They both noticed Zero and looked at him. Max was the first one to speak.

"Zero! Get this bastard outta here!"

Harpuia scoffed and said coolly, "He started it."

Zero rubbed his face and sighed. _Out of all the times…_

"Okay, I think you two need to settle this like men." The Blond Bomber crossed his arms.

"Yeah! Let's duel (d-d-d-d-d-d-duel!), Neo-Arcadian scum!" Max held up his fists.

Harpuia crossed his arms. "A duel or a fight? If you're up to a sophisticated match, then I suggest we have our little duel at an appropriate battlefield, wouldn't you agree, Zero?"

Zero knew Harpuia would enjoy fighting a lower class soldier like Max, but he also knew that he had no way of talking Max out of it, so what was the use? He sighed and led the two to the Command Room.

"Operator, teleport us to the Sand Wilderness."

The Operators put in the coordinates. "Everybody stand clear! Trans in 5...4...3...2...1..."

The three disappeared in a bright flash of light.

**Change of scene**

The dry desert wind blew mildly as the two combatants faced each other. Zero was in the middle of this, being the "referee."

"Bring it!" Max put up his fists and jabbed the air.

"I doubt you can hold your own against me using fists alone. Tell you what; I'll use only my fists while you can use that little toy you have. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like some bastard talk, but I'll take up that offer." Max drew his pistol and twirled it in his hand. "You'll be sorry you ever said that."

"Right." Harpuia smirked and cracked his knuckles once more.

"You can kiss my ass you stupid fu-"

Harpuia dashed into Max and punched him in the face. Max fell to the ground hard, still reeling from the surprise blow.

"Well? Get up." Harpuia kicked Max up into the air. As his body was still in the air, Harpuia grabbed it and threw him hard into a small desert hill. As the dirt was clearing, Max was trying to get up. Harpuia just took his time and walked patiently towards Max, awaiting his next move. The dirt didn't completely clear yet, so the Emerald Guardian couldn't see Max. The Rookie Soldier shot a Red Revolver Buster at Harpuia blindly. Since Max could not see Harpuia as well, the shot missed cleanly. It streaked through the air next to Harpuia's cheek, but it didn't even scratch it.

"I bet you can't even hit me once with that pistol of yours." Harpuia crossed his arms and waited.

Zero rubbed his face again. "This isn't even a fair match. No offense Max, but you can't keep up with Harpuia."

Out of the dirt cloud, Max lunged at Harpuia like a wild animal. Of course, Harpuia could hear Max a split-second earlier before he came out. For Harpuia, that was all he needed. The Guardian sidestepped out of the way. Max fell to the ground but got back up quickly. He aimed the pistol at Harpuia and fired several regular buster shots.

Keeping to his word, Harpuia dodged them all, advancing towards Max slowly while doing so. The Emerald Guardian ducked under Max and sweep-kicked him. The Rookie, however, found this as an opportunity to get a shot in. He quickly aimed at Harpuia's face and fired a shot. Perhaps the shot fired too soon, because Harpuia dashed through Max and stopped behind him. Before Max could even try to turn around, Harpuia elbowed him in the back, knocking him to the ground.

The Green Gladiator just stared as Max disapprovingly, although he wasn't expecting much anyway. He turned around, get ready to leave, but Max wouldn't let him.

"Wait…" Max struggled to get up.

Harpuia turned around, surprised for once. "You're still up? I suppose you have a spark."

"Just because you're in a higher class, or you have more skill than I do, doesn't mean I can't take you down."

"Now that is nonsense." Harpuia crossed his arms.

"The only sense I don't have is the sense of losing!" Max charged directly at Harpuia to try to punch him.

Harpuia just leaped over him and landed on the other side. As he turned around, Max fired a Laser Shot at Harpuia. Oddly enough, it missed him completely.

"That was a half-assed shot." Harpuia clenched his fists and dashed towards Max, but this time Max was the one to jump over Harpuia. The Emerald Guardian turned around, but this time a laser straight to the face met him. It blew up in his face, leaving a scorch mark on his cheek and a small cut on his lip.

Max smirked. "How'd you like my Reflect Laser?" The Rookie used his Copy Shot to copy Camo's blaster the last time they met, as well as all the other pistol-related attacks that were available from Camo's other transformations. "I told you I could take you down! So much for that challenge you made earlier! Now I'm going to take you down completely!"

Harpuia wiped off the blood on his lip. Oddly enough, he smirked. All of the sudden, he started laughing. He realized when he fought the Silhouette back at Neo Arcadia that he was in the same position as Max was. _So I suppose even a chicken can get a few pecks off of a falcon._

"Humph. You've already beaten me."

Max stared incredulously. "What?"

"I said that you couldn't hit me with one shot of that pistol of yours, but you did. So I suppose you win. For now." He turned to face Zero. "We're through here. Let's head back to base. Tomorrow we'll take on the last of what Reploforce has to offer." Then he turned to Max. "Next time, the gloves are off."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Max smirked.

Zero just shook his head. "Let's just go."

**Change of scene**

She was the only one left. The other two were defeated and fallen in battle.

_So I am all that's left. How fitting._ The medium-sized figure walked around Neo Arcadia, glancing at the gates as she walked by. It would only be a matter of time before she would fight Zero and the Guardians.

She wasn't afraid. She was never afraid, but then again Zeus and Flair were never afraid either. They found fighting the Guardians and Zero to be fun, and couldn't care less if they were losing. They knew what was in stake.

_So why am I not excited?_ She crossed her arms and wondered why. She never had "fun" fighting, mostly because she hardly ever fought anyone worth the time. Perhaps she spared with Flair or Zeus a bit, but she knew well that she was superior to them. Although she was the strongest out of the three, she never felt joy in battle. She only felt depression. Why, she did not know.

"Save the best for last, I always say." A shadowy figure appeared behind the medium-sized figure.

"Eartha, you are the most dangerous one. You will not-"

The medium-sized figure spoke, "Don't call me by that name!"

The shadowy figure chuckled. "And why not, Eartha?"

Eartha frowned under her cloak. "It was a name I abandoned." She started walking towards the Temple of Wind. Before she left the room, she turned to the shadowy figure.

"If you call me by that name again, I'll show you how dangerous I can be."

The shadowy figure disappeared and reappeared behind Eartha. He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Come now, we need not to fight."

Eartha knew from the figure's grip just exactly how strong he was. It wasn't so firm it would crush her shoulder, but she could tell from how fast he was and how steady the grip was that she was in no position to fight the figure.

"I suppose you're right. Just don't call me 'Eartha.'"

The shadowy figure chuckled. "Very well."

She wondered why Omega wasn't here. Only this "associate" was here in place of him. She wondered for a second, and then he just walked out of the room.

The figure laughed. "The Dark Elf is close…" He looked up above his head and kept laughing.

**Change of scene**

For the first time in a while, Harpuia was in an environment of peace and quiet. He lies on the Waiting Room bed, staring at the ceiling. All he wanted was a time to relax and just sleep, without anything rankling his mind. No Neo Arcadia, no Leviathan nagging, no nothing. Of course, Leviathan's nagging was fairly amusing at times. It was one thing when she really meant in, but sometimes she was just playing around.

Sometimes she would do it in front of Fefnir or humans. It would usually be about something small, but she would make a big deal out of it. He would always play along with it, and it was their "game." Sometimes it was the only way to stay sane.

He wondered what Leviathan and Fefnir were doing right now. Since they had taken back the Temples of Fire and Ice, then those areas must be secure. Now all there was left to do was to take back the Temple of Wind and then Neo Arcadia will be restored and rid of Reploforce. Two Silhouettes were already defeated, so only one was left. Harpuia really didn't worry about it much.

_If Leviathan and Fefnir could take them out, then so can I._ There was something different about the third Silhouette, however. The ones Leviathan and Fefnir fought were eager to battle, but they were strong (or so Zero says). He remembered the last time he faced the Three Silhouettes only two fought right away. The third one did not rush to fight. He suspected she was the one he was going to fight against.

_Does she not want to fight or is she too powerful to find anyone worth the time?_ It all seemed fitting to him, however, that the strongest Silhouette would be the one he would fight. It inflated his ego a bit. All this thinking wouldn't put him to sleep, however.

He got up from the Waiting Room bed and walked out of the room. He decided to stroll along the hall to clear his head up and hopefully fall asleep. Surprisingly, everyone was asleep already, locked up in their rooms sleeping on their beds. It was only 9:30 PM. Usually nights at Neo Arcadia were longer, and eventually they would become early mornings. Harpuia would always be working on things until early morning, and when he did finally get some sleep, it was only a couple of hour's worth.

Now when he could finally sleep for once, he couldn't! The halls were dark, and the only light came from some rooms that had light on inside. He thought no one could possibly be up by now, so he was turning to head back to the Waiting Room.

Alouette came cavorting right into him. She seemed energetic as she would in the daytime, but the only difference now was the nightgown she was wearing.

_Why is she up so late? She can't sleep or too much caffeine?_

"Hi Harpuia Ican'tsleeprightnowbecasueIdon'tfeellikeitIreallyexcitedIdon'tknowwhatforbutIwanttorunaroundandaroundandaroundalotCielgavemesomecoffeeitwasreallygoodshesaiddon'tdrinktoomuchbutIdidanywaysandnowshe'sasleepbutI'mnotbecaseIdon'tfeellikeitwaitdidIjustsaythatalreadyheeheeheeheeheehee!"

_Both I guess._ Harpuia picked her up and carried her to her room. He was going to try to get her back to sleep, but it wasn't helping that she was talking over a hundred words every five seconds. When he got into her room, he set her down on her bed. Of course, she didn't fall asleep easily.

"Harpuiacanyoureadmeastorypleasepleasepleaseplease?"

"Okay. Which one?"

Alouette jumped up and down bouncing on her bed. She was pointing at the shelf of books near her bed. "ReadmeastoryfromoverthereIlovethestoriesoverheretheyaresofuntoreadIlikereadingdoyoulikereadingHarpuiabecauseIsuredo!"

_Have to refrain from making her talk._ He picked up Little Red Riding Hood and started reading.

"Once upon a time…" He was bored already.

Alouette jumped out of her bed. "ImadeupadifferentversionofthisstorymyselfdoyouwanttohearokaysoLittleRedRidingHoodwalksthroughtheforestandthewolfspotshersohejumpsoutbutLittleRedRidingHoodisreadyforthewolfandstartskickinghisbuttwithkung-fu!" She punched and kicked the air and spun around. Eventually, she fell on her bottom. She burped loudly and then shook her head.

"Harpuia, can you continue reading the story? Harpuia?" She turned to Harpuia.

The Emerald Guardian was snoring, fast asleep.

**Change of scene**

"I didn't think you would like fluffy pink blankeys." Zero struggled to hold in his laughter.

Harpuia frowned. "It was a misunderstanding."

The night before Harpuia had fallen asleep in Alouette's room. She put her blankey over him while he was sleeping. When he woke up, he walked over to Zero's room to wake him up. He didn't notice he was still holding Alouette's blankey, so when Zero woke up and looked at Harpuia, he burst with laughter and rolled on the floor. His laugh was so loud that everyone from the nearest rooms came out to see what was going on. When they did, they too all laughed at Harpuia. That's when he noticed he was holding Alouette's blankey.

Zero would never let Harpuia live it down.

"Zero? Harpuia? Are you two ready?" Ciel stood in front of them. They were both in the Command Room, waiting to be teleported to the Temple of Wind. Zero was recovering from his laughter and Harpuia did his best to hide the blush on his cheeks. Embarrassment and anger coursed through his body. The female reploids, however, found this new predicament to increase Harpuia's "pretty-boyish looks." They cooed him as they waited to see him off. The male reploids were somewhat disappointed that Leviathan didn't make it back.

"Operators, trans them to the Temple of Wind." Ciel stepped back a few steps.

"Trans in 5...4...3...2...1..."

Zero and Harpuia both disappeared in a flash of bright light.

**Change of scene**

The dry wind blew some leaves across the ground. The two stood in front of the first door in the Temple of Wind.

Zero had regained his composure and stopped laughing. Now he stood upright, ready for action.

"Last time I was here, there were all these electric traps. Do you still have them?"

Harpuia scoffed. "I never renovate my temple, so why would I now?"

"Okay. So you have them activated or deactivated?"

"Once again, I don't know. For all I know Reploforce could have activated the traps right now. They maybe even placed new ones here."

"New traps? What could they possibly-"

Zero and Harpuia each rolled to one side to avoid a large rocket being launched at them. The rocket hit the ground and created a large crater. When they both looked to see who did it, they saw a large mechanloid with a rocket launcher and two subordinate mechanloid firing little bullets with puny guns.

Zero drew his Z-saber and was about to make his move, but Harpuia wasted no time and flew directly at the rocket-launching mechanloid. It fired another rocket at the Guardian, who was speeding towards the mechanloid. When the rocket came in range, Harpuia effortlessly barrel-rolled to the right and the rocket missed completely. It was heading towards Zero's area, and he had to act fast. The Legendary Maverick Hunter rolled out of the way just in time before the rocket could hit him.

"Hey! Watch it!"

Harpuia ignored the remark and sliced the rocket-launching mechanloid into four pieces using his beam sabers. The two small mechanloids were about to fire, but the Guardian smashed their heads in with the hilt of his beam sabers. He dashed back and the rocket-launching mechanloid exploded, taking out the other two mechanloids as well.

"Show off." Zero dusted off the dirt and gravel on his armor.

Harpuia and Zero both walked to the doors. They slid open. When they did, all they saw was a short hallway to the next door.

"That looks easy."

Harpuia shook his head. "Must be booby-trapped."

"Sarcasm, Harpuia."

"Stupidity, Zero."

Just as Harpuia said that, a spark of electricity hit Zero on his chin and numbed his jaw. The Legendary Maverick Hunter was taken by surprise and tried to feel his jaw. Harpuia, however, knew exactly what was going on and threw his beam saber at the corner of the room. It seemed like there was nothing there, but the saber hit a cloaked Reploforce mechanloid. The saber dug itself into his head and the mechanloid fell down to the ground, destroyed.

Harpuia smirked and Zero got up. They both walked to the next room and saw that there were two pathways. One entrance above them and one below them. They could hear the wind blow and feel it coming from the upper entrance. The bottom entrance was also filled with the sound of wind blowing. They both knew what to do.

"Guh huh uh uh huh huh, geh guh uh uh guh uh uh huh?" Zero was trying to speak but his jaw was stuck in an odd way.

"What?" Harpuia raised a brow.

Zero wrinkled up his face and nodded up and then down.

"What does that suppose to mean?" He made the same facial expressions as Zero did.

Zero cracked his jaw to the right and loosened his tongue and jaw.

"Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" Zero crossed his arms.

"Zero, you're gibbering nonsense."

"Funny, Harpuia."

"So what do you have to say?"

Zero looked at both of the pathways.

"You go this way and I go that way." Zero pointed for Harpuia to go up and for him to go down.

"We're splitting up?"

"Well, are we going to meet up somewhere?"

"Of course, Zero. It is _my _Temple of Wind, you know. Although these are two different ways, we'll end up meeting each other at the end. I'll meet you there first. If you don't make it, then I'll understand."

Zero scoffed. "As if I won't make it. Are you sure you won't be at a disadvantage without me?"

"Of course not." Harpuia shoved Zero down the lower pathway.

"Son of a bitch!" Zero yelled and his echo lingered as he fell all the way down.

"That was easy." Harpuia activated his boosters and flew up the other pathway.

**Change of scene**

"Ow." Zero rubbed his butt as he slowly stood up. When Harpuia pushed him down he had quite a long fall. Fortunately, he landed on a platform. Unfortunately, his ass broke his fall.

"Thanks a pantsful, Harpuia." Zero crossed his arms and looked and his surroundings.

Since he fell to the bottom, he was at the lowest level of the Temple of Wind. The temple was placed far above the other temples, and the Temple of Wind was the closest to the top of Neo Arcadia. The bottom was all the way below Zero, several hundreds of feet below. He looked forward and saw other platforms, suspended by electric wires. Most of the platforms were no wider than Zero, so he had to be extremely precise with his jumps. The only one with running room was the one he was on. To top it all off, the wind was roaring and several Gli-Eyes were hovering around, patrolling the platforms. The problem wasn't that Zero couldn't destroy them, it was that they could easily disrupt Zero's timing and he would fall quite a fall.

This wasn't going to stop Zero, however. Cerveau had outfitted him with new upgrades after the battle with Flair. One of his Leg Enhancements was the Light Body Chip. It changed Zero's overall weight to match a feather. With this equipped, he could use his Chain Rod and swing using the Gli-Eyes. In his normal weight, he would bring them down with him, but with the Light Body Chip, they wouldn't get pulled down. He just had to make sure he stabbed at the right spot so they wouldn't explode. Zero changed into Active Form to aid his jumping and recovery speed.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter phased on a long rod. Cerveau modified the three different Rods to form one new weapon. It was a short stick, but it could transform into any of the three Rods instantly. Two sharp heads could come out of the ends of the stick, forming a double-ended version of the Triple Rod. Those ends could also shoot out the spearhead of the Chain Rod. And to top it off, the stick could detach into the Recoil Rod. It was an all-purpose rod.

He aimed one end at the nearest Gli-Eye and shot out the spearhead. It landed on the corner of its small body, nearly hitting the eye. Zero didn't want to hit the eye, or else it would self-destruct. He took a few steps back and ran off of the platform. Despite swinging hundreds and hundreds of feet above the ground, Zero Tarzan-yelled as he swung.

Zero landed perfectly on the platform, and as small as it was, Zero was able to stand with one foot and balance himself. When he retracted the Chain Rod, he noticed the Gli-Eye was still stuck in the spearhead. He knew it would self-destruct anytime soon, so he had to think quickly. The Blond Bomber heard some other Gli-Eyes flying towards him, so he took this opportunity to get rid off the Gli-Eye near him. He swung the rod to hit the others. He smashed them all and they exploded several feet away from him. However, he noticed now he couldn't get to the other platform as easily anymore.

He destroyed the only Gli-Eyes around, so now he had to do it the old fashioned way. The problem was, the platform was so far away Zero wouldn't make it. He couldn't dash jump because the platform was big as Zero, so he had no room to back up. However, he noticed some shots coming from above. He looked up and there were some Panel Cannons firing down at him. Now he had another idea.

The Panel Cannons were not that high up, so he placed the end of the rod to the ground while aiming the sharp end at the closest Panel Cannon. The other end was charging up for a Recoil Rod attack. When it was ready, he released the attack and the force of it propelled him skyward. When he was within firing range, he launched the spearhead at the Panel Cannon. Once again, he nearly hit the mark that would make it self-destruct. He swung a round arc under the Panel Cannon. At the height of his arc, he retracted the chain and was flying towards another Panel Cannon.

Things were not looking good. The only Panel Cannon within range was under him, so he would be falling right on top of it. The others were lower, so he wouldn't be able to fire a shot at them. Having only a split-second to think, he decided it was time to skip. He hopped on the Panel Cannon under him and leaped off it and onto the next one. He went past three until he noticed there would only be two more left until he would reach the highest one, closest to the door.

He charged up the rod after he jumped off of the first one. Right before his feet even touched the second one, he shot his charged Recoil Rod attack on the Panel Cannon and he was fired up high. Zero kept flying until at the height of his flight he was right in front of the Panel Cannon. However, he didn't just charged one side; he charged both sides. He aimed the other side above the Panel Cannon and released it. It propelled him even higher and he finally was close to the last platform. However, he realized he was slowly falling back down. With a last, desperate effort, he reached out his arm and grabbed the end of the platform. His hand was slipping off. It didn't last long until it slipped off completely.

Luckily, Zero had a backup plan. When his hand slid off, he had stabbed the rod under the platform. It held him there firmly. While it was still in there, Zero slowly climbed up and finally found himself in front of the next door.

"Whew." He dusted himself off and the doors slid open. He walked into the next room.

**Change of scene**

Harpuia flew up the upper pathway. He knew his Temple of Wind inside and out. He knew that this was the shortcut and that he would be there first in no time at all. However, the things he knew changed.

The pathway up was actually a large air vent. It shifted direction and headed to the right. It was larger than Harpuia was used to. As he flew farther and farther forward, he noticed the air vent was gradually getting larger and larger.

_What's going on?_ He didn't have time to think because the air picked up and he was flying faster. Now the air vent was more of a blur. Harpuia deactivated his boosters, but he was still flying. The air was carrying him at a high speed, but Harpuia didn't intend to do this.

_This must be a trap!_ He was going so fast, he would only have a second to catch a clear glimpse of what he was passing by. For Harpuia, that slim second was all he needed. Instinctively, he turned to the right, avoiding a large spike wall on the left side. About two seconds after that, he turned left to avoid a spike trap on the right. About three seconds after that, he barrel-rolled to the center to avoid the traps on the left and right side of him, flying through the margin between the traps.

_Reploforce must have rigged my shortcut with traps to catch me off-guard. They can't stop me._

Now every time a second passed after he avoided a spike trap, he would have to move once more to avoid yet another one. This continued for a full minute. Harpuia noticed there wasn't a certain pattern, but he had his quick reflexes to count on. Left, right, center, right, center, left, center, left, right. Different variations of spike traps were set, but avoided them all.

Finally, the myriad of traps ceased to appear. Now Harpuia was free flying without any obstacles. Of course, he knew there must be more. The Emerald Guardian activated his boosters and beam sabers. Beyond him was a large spike wall that completely sealed off the exit. He knew he had to cut his own way through.

"Flying Izuna Corkscrew!"

Spike traps are usually impervious to beam sabers of blasters of any kind, since they were laced with the type of metal that gave them that ability. For Harpuia's new attack, however, that meant absolutely nothing. He spun around in a dangerously sharp corkscrew and twirled his beam sabers. His attack shredded the entire wall into pieces, and the spikes were blown away into the walls of the air vent. Harpuia had practiced this attack many times on walls, so this was easy picking for him.

The path stooped back down again and Harpuia founded himself flying through the exit. It burst through the top of a room and landed on the ground feet-first. The dust settled around him and he deactivated his beam sabers. He stood upright and dusted himself off.

"What an entrance." Zero stood in front of Harpuia, his arms crossed.

"You made it here." Harpuia turned around and looked at the next door.

"Yeah, and it looks like we both made it on time."

"I have to say, I didn't think you'd make it."

" Oh yeah? Weren't you the one who said that you would make it first? Come to think of it, I came here first!"

Harpuia scoffed. "Stop acting childish." He walked over to the doors and they slid open.

Zero followed closely behind.

"By the way Zero, we all know I came first." Harpuia walked into the next room.

Zero shook his head. _I give up…_

When they went into the next room they surprisingly found that this was a room with another door at the end. The room itself was about s big as a small battlefield. There wasn't anything of significance here, just ground, a ceiling, and a door at the end.

"You Guardians have too many unneeded rooms."

"I didn't have this room here before." Harpuia looked around. The room's walls and ceiling were covered in darkness. The only light source they had was the light coming form the doors behind them and the light coming from the cracks of the doors in front of them.

"Then let's just head through the other door! It shouldn't be that hard, right?"

Suddenly, sparks of electricity illuminated the room. Wires covered the walls and the ends electrify the ceiling. Three holes formed in front of the door. Three bolts of lightning shot out of the holes and three figures popped out. To Harpuia's and Zero's surprise, they were three Aztec Falcons.

"Zero, every time you claim something 'isn't hard,' it indeed gets harder."

"I think I noticed that just now. But hey, we can take on the Three Amigos!"

Harpuia frowned and looked at Zero with a completely humorless stare.

"Alright fine. Let's get this over with." Zero drew his Z-saber.

The Aztec Falcon trio was different models than the original one. They had a Reploforce symbol on their chest and wings. The colors were also different than the usual yellow, green, and white. Now they had red wings, blue eyes, and black chest armor. They showed no signs of speech or verbal intelligence.

_So they remodeled Aztec Falcon. Who is behind this?_ Harpuia drew out both beam sabers.

The Aztec Falcons wasted no time and immediately charged at Zero and Harpuia. Two went after Zero while one went after Harpuia. The Guardian and the Maverick Hunter both rolled out of the way to avoid their attack. However, the Aztec Falcons flew around in a semi-circle and continued their assault.

The two that went after Zero glided above the ground and began a mid-air assault on Zero. One used his talons to slice Zero. The other one flew over to the opposite side of the two and started to fire electric arrows. The Legendary Maverick Hunter had double duty evading the first Aztec Falcon's talon swipes while dodging the electric arrows of the other one.

Harpuia only had to deal with one, but this particular Aztec Falcon copy was a bit more advanced than the other two. It took to the air and flapped its wings. It was a gesture to lure the Guardian into an aerial battle. Harpuia, knowing all too well that fighting in the air was his specialty, activated his boosters and flew up to the third Aztec Falcon. Almost immediately after he came within range, Aztec Falcon flew directly at the Guardian and started to slash at him with his talons.

The Emerald Guardian swayed to his right side, avoiding one swipe. He tried to counter by swinging his beam saber, but Aztec Falcon blocked it with his wing, which was now reinforced with the beam saber-resistant metal. Harpuia swung with his other arm, but again Aztec blocked it with his other wing.

Aztec Falcon's eyes grew a deep cool blue as two ice beams shot out of his eyes. Harpuia bent his neck to one side and avoiding one beam, but the other beam hit him square in the chest. Even though he wore armor, he had an allergy to Ice elemental attacks. Using the moment of attack as an opportunity, Aztec Falcon slashed at Harpuia with his talons in a quick one-two combo. Both slashes made contact with Harpuia, and they were harmfully deep. They both were on his armor and penetrated through most of the layers he wore.

Harpuia had to fight back, but the talons Aztec Falcon had were also blue. They were frozen with Ice elemental energy, so the attacks hurt even more.

Aztec Falcon's eyes glinted as he grabbed both of Harpuia's shoulders with his sharp talons. The claws dug deep into Harpuia's skin, since he didn't wear shoulder pads. Aztec then pushed Harpuia down into the ground from above high and dragged his body along the crumbling cement.

The other two Aztec Falcon copies were still having their fun with Zero. Although they weren't upgraded with another elemental besides Thunder, they were still tough to take down. The Blond Bomber was still avoiding both of their attacks, but finally one electric arrow skinned his leg. He winced at the small amount of pain, but the fraction of a second Zero used up to wince was what the other Aztec Falcon copy needed. One talon swipe connected on Zero's face as the claws dug into his skin, but it wasn't deep because Zero had turned an angle when he got hit by the electric arrow lessening the damage.

The Aztec Falcon copy connected with another talon slash on the chest and then kneed Zero in the face. The blow caused him to trip and fall backward. The other Aztec Falcon came and tackled Zero with electricity crackling around his body. The Aztec Falcon in the air also charged at Zero, and they both sandwiched him.

Being sandwiched between two electric Aztec Falcons was not comfortable for Zero. Fortunately, the Aztec Falcon copies didn't know Zero had charged his Z-saber while they had attacked him. Now it was fully charged. With a ferocious attack, he used the Ice elemental chip and struck both Aztec Falcons with his charged Z-saber attack. The resulting splash wave knocked both of them back and blew off some pieces of their armor.

However, they were incredibly quick to recover. Shortly after the attack had hit them both, the one on the left teleported to the other side of Zero. Both Aztec Falcon copies opened their wings and activated the Wing Magnet they had. Since both magnets were pulling on each side, both forces of magnetism were pulling in opposite directions. Zero had nowhere to dash now, and he was already feeling himself split apart. He had to react quickly or else he would become two pieces of legendary scrap.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter drew his All-purpose Rod and aimed both ends to each Aztec Falcon copy.

"Magnetize this!"

Zero launched the Chain Rod spearheads out of each end. Since the Aztec Falcons had their magnet on, the force pulled the spearheads as well. They were flying at such a fast speed that the Aztecs had no way of stopping it. Each spearhead found its way to each one of Aztec Falcon's faces. The two Aztec Falcon copies to Zero's left and right side had been stabbed in the face by the tips of the Chain Rod. It dug itself in deep.

Zero twirled his rod around and he pulled the heads of them both right off. They went flying away. He retracted the two chains and twirled the rod over his head once more. The two Aztec Falcon copies on his sides exploded in a brilliant yellow.

The last Aztec Falcon copy kept dragging Harpuia's body along the ground. Or so he thought. When the dust cleared, he realized he was actually dragging along his talons instead of Harpuia's body. The Guardian's body wasn't there anymore.

"Super Sonic Boom!"

The Aztec Falcon copy looked up, but it was too late. Harpuia had been above Aztec Falcon the entire time from the beginning. He had escaped Aztec's grip right before he hit the ground. Now that he had the time he needed to charge his attack, Harpuia launched a large crescent wave down below at Aztec. It was moving far too quickly for Aztec to evade it.

The wings may have been protected with the beam saber-resistant metal, but Aztec's chest armor and helmet wasn't. The wave easily sliced through the armor and split the Aztec Falcon copy in two. It did not even cry out in pain as it burst into shards of blue ice. They harmlessly missed Harpuia and hit everything else.

Zero sighed and looked around the room.

"I guess that's it. Nothing else is stopping us now."

Harpuia flew down to the ground.

"Finally. Now let's move on."

Without any interruptions, they walked to the last pair of doors. The doors slid open and they walked into the room.

Heavenly. That's how the room smelled. The entire last room was decorated with myriads of flowers and plants. The floor was replaced with fresh green grass, and the breeze blew gently. Gardens and gardens of flowers were the "walls" of the room. The flowers were all sorts of different variations. There were even some flowers that couldn't be found on Earth anymore were here.

After the new age of Reploids and the Elf Wars, much wildlife ceased to exist. The vast majority of that life was plants. Many of the one grassy land around the world were either annihilated or died out. The once extinct flowers were now littered decoratively across the walls. The ornate room had beautiful flowers with the sweetest, scrumptious scent the entire earth could offer. The breezy grass on the ground felt soft and fresh. Even if you were to romp on it, it wouldn't be ruined.

The cool, calm breeze blew Zero's mane around.

"Wow."

Harpuia, however, wasn't impressed. In fact, he looked downright angry.

"Who on Earth 'redecorated' _my _room in _my _Temple of Wind?"

"Wait a second! Look over there!" Zero pointed to the right, behind one of the many gardens.

There was a young woman walked by the gardens. She wore a simple white dress, usually worn on bright sunny days. She also wore a handcrafted sunflower hat that concealed her face. Her hair was a collaboration of white and blond, resulting in a faded blond color that seemed to be alive. As the breeze blew, it fluttered gently and smoothly along the air. It seemed like it was a cloud, yet at the same time a glass of some kind, changing the shade of blond each time it was at a different angle.

She adjusted her hat and tilted it up a bit so she could see. The hair fell down to her shoulders. Her skin was heavenly white, the absolute perfect shade of white. It was as if she was an angel, and at the same time it wasn't so white that it was imperfect. The face that she had was even lovelier. It literally shone with radiance and pulchritude. Her eyes had a soft look in them. The irises were blue, but a clear sky blue. Her nose was perfectly proportionate with the rest of her face. Her lips were not with lipstick, but naturally light pink. When she moved her mouth, every muscle in her lips streamed with beauty.

Zero was completely blown away. He could already feel himself float up to the sky. Then he realized the room's ceiling _was _the sky!

Harpuia kept his composure. His face did not show any signs of change, emotionally or physically. He knew better.

The woman gently plucked off a flower and smelled it. When she closed her eyes, the eyelashes perfected curved and folded over each other. She took a long whiff and once again opened her eyes. Her mouth opened, as if she were to say something. However, she didn't say anything. She only blew gently at the flower. When her breath hit the flower, it seemed to have multiplied its radiance and volume, as if it were a flower from the Garden of Eden itself.

Finally she began speaking. She had noticed Harpuia and Zero from the start, but she wasn't looking at them. Now she was talking to them while caressing her flower.

"Isn't Earth beautiful? All of this was only a small taste of what once abundant life was. Where there was forest, there were flowers. The forests were more like gardens; even the trees had flowers blossoming off its branches. There were no animals to disturb the tranquility, yet the plants were able to survive. This heaven was what Earth once was."

The breeze stopped suddenly.

"Yet nothing lasts forever. With Earth and its blossoming beauties, humans and conflict came. Countless wars tore apart the haven that once was. Now in this present day it would be a rarity to find even one flower surviving. Those heartless humans not only destroyed what once was, but also created more defilers to ensure that it never came again."

The flower's petals started falling off, one by one.

"By the time the Maverick Wars were over, most of the world was a wasteland. Yet, there were still some places where there was life. Nature still existed. Even after the New Age of Reploids it still existed. But, after the Elf Wars had come and gone, there was nothing left. The humans brought it upon themselves to create weapons of mass destruction.

"I despise humans. They ruined what once was, and now they will pay for what they have done."

Zero was appalled that such a fine woman could say such a thing.

Harpuia, however, knew better than to judge a book by its cover. Beauty was only skin-deep.

He smirked. " I find it odd that a reploid like you would wear such a mask. Why don't you Reploforce scum show us your real faces?"

The woman smirked as well, but it lacked any angelic pulchritude before.

"Harpuia, the third Guardian of Neo Arcadia. I believe we have met before."

He frowned. "Why do you persist on eradicating all humans?"

"Didn't I just tell you? Humans destroyed the beauty of the Earth. After Reploforce destroys all of the humans, I can finally revive all of the nature that once was. We won't have to worry about humans wasting precious Earth resources and nature once we are through."

Harpuia drew his beam sabers. "Then throw off the mask so I can kill you already."

Zero hesitated at first, but then he drew his Z-saber as well.

The reploid woman sighed.

"If bringing back everything would mean to kill you both, then I suppose I can live with that."

She threw off hat. With her index finger, he touched the garden near her. It began to freeze, and the ice was traveling around the entire room. The cool, calm breeze suddenly turned into a cold, dry wind. The entire room was covered with flower ice sculptures and frozen gardens. The grass became an icy battlefield.

The reploid herself was changing. He ripped off her skirt to reveal her true form. She didn't wear much armor at all. The only armor she wore was the revealing top. It covered most of her upper body, but only reaching down under her breasts. They were covered, but no cleavage was spared. The other piece of armor she wore was the armored thong she wore. It was skinny for a thong, but it was strapped with blue leather laced-strings reaching down to her high-heeled boots. Her hair was no longer long and blond but now it was a short pixie-cut and the color changed to midnight blue. Her skin turned into a lightly faded blue, and the little armor she wore was a much darker shade of blue. Her stomach was exposed, but a getting in a simple slash would not be easy.

Reploforce Frosty Dominatrix Mistress

**Glacia**

"I am Glacia, and I will be the one to destroy you both." She smirked devilishly. "It will be quite interesting to take on two partners at once." She licked her lips seductively.

Harpuia winced and Zero hardened his look.

Out from the ground a short sword came out. The sides of the sword were fitted with pointy spikes. Glacia picked it up and pointed it at Zero and Harpuia. The short sword detached into a chained whip. With a swift motion, she lashed the whip at Zero and Harpuia. The Legendary Maverick Hunter rolled out of the way while the Green Gladiator activated his boosters and barrel-rolled away from the whip. He was flying straight for Glacia.

Glacia simply smirked as the whip came back to her at a much faster speed than Harpuia was flying. The Guardian raised both beam sabers over his head and slashed vertically with them both. Glacia grabbed the other end of the whip and stretched it out, forming a sort of net to catch Harpuia's attack. She was able to do it fast enough that it did catch Harpuia's attack. Before the Guardian could react, Glacia wrapped the whip around the sabers and Harpuia's arms.

The Icy Mistress moved over to Harpuia's backside and pulled on the whip. It pulled Harpuia's arms back over his head. Glacia then stuck her foot on Harpuia's back. The foot forced Harpuia down to the ground, and the sharp heel dug its way into Harpuia's skin. Then, Glacia unwrapped Harpuia's arms and choked him around the neck with the whip, pulled on it. Harpuia's neck and head were being pulled closer to Glacia as his back was being forced down. This was Glacia's "Feeble Position" technique.

The whip was giving off Ice elemental energy, so not only was the whip choking him, but Harpuia also felt himself getting colder and weaker by the minute. A few more seconds and his neck would might as well snap.

Thankfully, Zero shot a charged Blast Shot at Glacia. She released the whip's chokehold on Harpuia and used his body as a springboard to leap up into the air. The Blast Shot missed, flying under her. When she came back down, she landed on Harpuia's face, stepping on him with both feet in his face. Glacia now focused her attention onto Zero. She ran towards him, leaving her weapon in whip form.

Zero used this opportunity to shoot Glacia with buster shots while charging his Z-saber. The Icy Mistress anticipated a ranged attack and detached her whip into several metal shards. They circled around her as she ran. The buster shots were deflected off of her whip shield as she was getting closer and closer to Zero.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter brought his Z-saber over his head and swung down at Glacia with a charged Fire saber attack.

Before the attack could hit Glacia, the shards reattached to each other forming the whip again. It retracted back into the short sword. When the attack finally hit her, instead of her being knocked back, her body and her weapon melted into water.

Before Zero could figure out what was going on, she materialized behind him and wrapped the whip around his neck. She pulled hard and choked Zero. She dug her heel into Zero's back, using the same technique used on Harpuia. This time, however, she revised it. Glacia forced Zero onto his knees while he was getting choked. She sat on Zero's back and it was a seat, using one hand to hold the whip, using her "Feeble Position 2" technique.

Harpuia finally got back up and was flying towards Glacia. Thinking quickly, the Icy Mistress used her free hand to pull the Z-buster out of Zero's hoister and froze it. Now it was able to shoot charged Ice busters. She aimed the buster at Harpuia and shot several charged Ice busters.

The Guardian leaned over to the side and flew around Glacia. As he did, she kept shooting at Harpuia. Zero was still choking and being used as a personal chair. Knowing he couldn't simply avoid her shots forever, he switched course and headed straight for Glacia. The charged Ice busters hit Harpuia several times, and each time he felt it. However, he didn't get knocked out of flight each time they hit. He just raised both of his beam sabers over his head and slashed down vertically when he came within range.

Glacia retracted her whip into the short sword and blocked Harpuia's attack. Now that Glacia's chokehold on Zero was released, he used Flair's "Inflammatory Body" attack and ignited his body on fire. Since Glacia was sitting on him, Zero's burned him back. Harpuia used this moment to knee the Icy Mistress in the stomach using his left leg. Then he connected with a swift right roundhouse to her ribs. The force of the kick knocked her back and she dropped Zero's buster.

As Glacia tumbled along the ground, Harpuia was charging his sabers. When he was done, he slashed them both at Glacia's direction, launching a Super Sonic Boom. Zero had also picked up his Z-buster when Harpuia did this, and fired a charged Blast Shot along with the wave. The two attacks mingled into one and the resulting Flaming Sonic Boom hit Glacia into the air. Since it was a Fire attack, it hurt her especially.

The Green Gladiator kicked his boosters on and glided above the ground. He grabbed Glacia in mid-air and was flying up. He wrapped his arms around her as he flew high above. Then he switched directions and fell back down.

"Izuna Drop!"

He slammed Glacia into the ground as a large cloud of ice shards smoked out the area. Zero drew his Z-saber and went into a defensive position. As the cloud clear, Harpuia stood up. However, Glacia's body was nowhere to be found. He looked at the ground and saw nothing.

Suddenly, Glacia sprouted up from the ground behind Zero. She used her arm to choke Zero around the neck. The Icy Mistress was getting burned by Zero's Inflammatory Body, but she still held on. She detached her whip into shards once more and they flew around Zero and her. Then the shards went flying straight at Zero. The shards scratched Zero's skin and armor while some actually punctured through and severed some of his muscles. This was her Shards of Pain Symphony.

Harpuia flew towards Zero to help him. Another short sword came out of the ground and Glacia used her other hand to grab it. She detached it to form another whip and lashed it at Harpuia. It went around his leg and pulled him from under. He fell on the ground while Glacia was finishing her other attack.

She ceased the attack and reattached the shards into a whip again. Now she had two, one in each hand. With her arm, she froze Zero into an ice sculpture and went after Harpuia.

The Green Gladiator tried to get up as quickly as he could, but he wouldn't be ready for Glacia's next attack. The Icy Mistress spun both whips over her head and lashed them at the ground. The whips detached into twice as many shards and they all headed for Harpuia. The shards were traveling in a circular blizzard, and they were picking up speed. Harpuia knew he wouldn't be able to survive if he evaded them, since they covered a wide range.

He didn't have time to decide because the shards came and hit Harpuia. Many of them scratched his armor while others gave him some nasty cuts on his skin. Some pierced through his armor and did some internal damage, especially the lower ones. They were through his legs and severed many of his muscles that moved his legs. When the shards reattached back into Glacia's whips, Harpuia fell to his knees.

The Guardian couldn't even feel his legs anymore. There was no feeling, not even pain. He only watched as the open wounds on his legs bled. Most of his armor was scratched off, and even his face had several cuts. He felt pain everywhere else. It felt like millions of needles were poking him throughout his entire body, and they were digging in. As injured as he was, he couldn't cry out in pain. He couldn't even hold on to one of his sabers. All he could do was watch as Glacia walked towards him.

The Icy Mistress stood towering over the fallen Guardian triumphantly. She caressed Harpuia's cheek and then held his chin up. She stared provocatively into his eyes.

"It looks like you're all worn out. You'll never please a woman wearing yourself out that quick." Glacia smiled devilishly and held her short sword to his face.

Harpuia struggled to speak. "You…you're…you're afraid."

"What?"

"You're afraid to fight. I hear it in your voice." He coughed out some blood. "No matter what you try to do, you can't stop fighting. So you fight hoping it would finally stop, but I bet it hasn't ever stopped, now hasn't it?"

"Shut up!" Glacia backhanded Harpuia's face. It was so strong that his helmet went flying off, shattered.

The Guardian looked into Glacia's eyes.

"Why? Why are you so afraid? Would you be so afraid that you would rather kill yourself than keep on fighting? Don't channel all of your fear into another personality. I've seen worse."

Glacia covered her ears. "No! Stop it! I will kill you NOW!" She held the short swords over her head.

"Die!" She swung them down at Harpuia.

Suddenly, two fireballs hit Glacia in the back and sent her reeling into a wall.

Harpuia looked and saw Zero was standing with both of his middle fingers up. He had used Flair's " F Ball" technique.

"Are you trying to say something?" Harpuia coughed and raised a brow.

"I wasn't flipping _you _off." Zero had melted the ice using the Inflammatory Body. While Harpuia was talking to stall, Zero had charged up the attack. However, his body was still severely injured, but he kept fighting.

Zero walked over to Harpuia, limping along the way. Every time he moved, a bit of blood from his multiple open wounds squirted out. It pained him greatly, but he wouldn't give up.

"Don't worry Harpuia, I'll end this."

Harpuia admitted that he was amazed. _Zero keeps fighting even though he is injured. How does he keep going?_

Glacia appeared in front of Harpuia. She was facing Zero.

"You'll pay for that!" She slashed at Zero using both of her short swords.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter reached for his Z-saber, but he realized he had dropped it! He evaded Glacia's slashes, but he didn't have his weapon. Instead, he drew his All-Purpose Rod and fought it.

_How? How does he get the strength?_

Then, Harpuia remembered. Old Andrew told him to "find his soul." He said that when it is found, the inner strength would awaken.

_So is Zero pouring his soul into this fight? Why can't I?_

"To find your soul, you have to find your purpose." Old Andrew once said.

_What is my purpose?_ He slowly put together the pieces. _I have to protect Neo Arcadia. No, not just that. I have to also protect Leviathan and Fefnir. I have to fight for them. And yes, I even have to fight for you, Zero, knowing one day I will defeat you in battle. _That_ is _my _purpose!_

The Green Gladiator yelled as he burst with green energy. He flew up into the air. His muscles were bulging despite being punctured and his green hair was spiked up. The green aura around his body grew larger and larger. The "Ultimate Guardian Chip" inside him was awakening.

When the Guardians were created, they were modeled after X. Although they were not as strong overall as he was, they had a special chip inside their bodies to amplify their power to rival X's. This was the "Ultimate Guardian Chip," and it had been activated inside Harpuia's body. This state of power only lasted for a few minutes, but this power was great enough to create massive destruction in the time period.

Zero and Glacia looked up. They couldn't believe their eyes.

_How did Harpuia get so strong? I never saw him like _this_ before!_ Zero was impressed. Now they could beat Glacia.

_What is this power?_ Glacia averted her attention to Harpuia, ready to fight.

The Ultimate Emerald Guardian stared at Glacia.

Glacia didn't want to wait. She detached her swords into whips and lashed them at Harpuia. They were so fast you would blink and miss the attack. However, Harpuia effortlessly caught them with his hands. He yanked them both and Glacia came flying towards him. She was caught by surprise, but she braced herself. She spun around, throwing a spin kick at Harpuia.

The Green Gladiator simply caught her ankle with his hand after letting go of the whips. Without a second to spare, he threw her down to the ground below.

She crashed with a heavy landing, but she got up nevertheless. Glacia was bleeding on her lip, and she had some scorch marks and bruises around her body.

Harpuia descended and landed in front of Glacia. He didn't bother to attack; he just stared at Glacia.

"If you want death, I'll give you death." His face pierced through Glacia's composure.

"No! Shut up!" Glacia tried to backhand Harpuia, but he grabbed her hand. He kicked her into a wall.

Now he wasn't going to hold back. He flew up high into the air and charged up energy. Sparks of purple lightning shot crackled out of his body as he activated his only beam saber. However, he wasn't only going to use one. When Zero wasn't looking, Harpuia picked up his Z-saber when he dropped it. Now he had it in his left hand. He held them both over his head in an X formation.

"Flying Izuna Corkscrew!"

He sped at Glacia at a ridiculously high speed. You couldn't even see a blur when he moved. He had twirled his saber and the Z-saber while spinning himself. The very air around him was manipulated as it spun in the same direction as he was, created a "razor wind." The ice all around the room was picked up from the wind and the shards came flying around him. Finally, the attack hit Glacia hard.

The sabers shredded any kind of protection her saber resistant skin could offer. The attack was so strong it even shredded some of Harpuia's own armor. The walls were ripped apart as metal flew like paper all over the room. Zero had to duck to make sure he didn't get hit.

When the attack was over, Glacia had been stabbed through the stomach with Harpuia's beam saber and Zero's Z-saber. She was pinned to whatever was left of the wall.

Harpuia kept the sabers in her while he talked.

"How odd. I asked you so show your true face, and you put on another mask. Show me your true face."

Glacia's midnight-blue hair changed back into the faded blond. Her skin changed into the pale white.

"How…did…you know?" She coughed out some blood.

"Your face was screaming out the desire to die. I understand where you're coming from. You didn't want to fight, but you were created for that sole purpose. All you wanted to do was to settle down in the gardens. So you drove yourself into believing that by eradicating the human race you could bring back Earth to its pristine time."

Glacia started to cry.

"But you knew it wouldn't work. You wanted to die rather than keep living a life where you know happiness will never come. Now, Glacia, are you satisfied?"

She smiled. It was the same heavenly smile she had before when she still was in the garden.

"Yes. Thank you, Harpuia." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"By the way…my name is Eartha." She pulled herself closer near Harpuia, but at the same time the sabers went deeper into her until they stuck out of the other side. She rested her head on Harpuia's shoulder.

"Thank you…" Her eyelids glazed over. Her hands fell limp on his neck.

She died.

Zero slowly walked over to Harpuia. He stayed about a few feet away from Harpuia.

"I'm sorry…" He started to say.

Harpuia smirked. "Nothing to be sorry about, Zero."

"What do you mean?"

"What she really wanted was to get away from this world. I gave her what she wanted. If she's happy, then so am I."

The green aura around him dissipated and he fell to his knees, still cradling Eartha's body.

"Ugh…so tired…"

"Harpuia!" Zero started to run towards him.

"No!"

Zero stopped.

"Let me be Zero…just go."

Zero stood still.

"Good-bye, Harpuia."

He activated his portable trans server and disappeared in a bright flash of light.

Now Harpuia was alone.

"So I have finally found my soul…but at what cost?" Harpuia closed his eyes and fell to the ground unconscious. Eartha's body was lying on top of his. Her arms were still around Harpuia's neck.


	15. Whispers Heard

Author: What an ordeal! Here I am trying to finish a fan fiction and life interrupts me! I apologize for the 5 month delay, but videogames, school, and other things do a fantastic job at side-tracking me. Well, good things happened at least. I have to say, chapter 14 brought up some very interesting reviews. One of them caught my eye.

**To The Keet:** Wow. Your review surprised me. I didn't look at my story from that point of view before. While there were some things that I didn't exactly agree with, I understand your review was not a flame, but a critique. You provided me with some advice on how to type battle scenes, so I took that advice. Everything else, however, will stay the same. The same characters, the same titles, the same forty-first power cheesiness will be here. I appreciate your opinion and I hope to receive some more feedback.

**To the rest of my reviewers:** Thank you all. Words can't fully express the gratitude that I have. You would have to be an author yourself to know the feeling of having reviewers compliment your work, whether it was from chapter 1 to just last night on chapter 14. It's especially good when you're doing a story you really want to type. In the future I will give you all recognition somehow.

Enough of the talk and such and such. With 3 Reploforce Guardians dead and a title name with the word "war" in it, I think you all know what happens next. On with the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own the MMZ series. Capcom owns that. I do own Dex, Max, Sam, Zeus, Flair, Eartha (Glacia), the Red Revolver Gang (excluding Axl), and the soon-to-be-introduced Ghost.

_Whispers Heard_

**It doesn't add up. Zero was in the Maintenance Room recovering from the last battle. As he laid in the capsule, he thought about Reploforce. Why didn't they attack the Resistance while the Guardians and I were fighting? The armies weren't in Neo Arcadia, so why didn't they attack then? Their purpose is to use the Final Weapon, but they need the Dark Elf and the container. We have the container, so why haven't they sneak-attacked the Resistance for it yet?**

It bothered Zero that Reploforce wasn't acting out on their plan. He knew what they were planning, but they hadn't acted out on it yet. This was supposed to relieve Zero, but it did the exact opposite. It lead him to believe two different things.

_One would be that they're just waiting, planning something even bigger. Two would be that they already have everything necessary, and the Reploforce Guardians were just decoys! He scratched his head. All the ideas he thought kept circling around his head. The battle may have taken a toll on his mind._

_Everything seems too odd. None of this makes sense. I know a organization like Reploforce must have had a reason to distract us from something, but what is it?_

The doors slid open. Zero looked and saw that Ciel was walking in. Now she looked the same as before, with her bright face that showed happiness and some concern. Zero was relieved that Ciel was back to normal again. He couldn't stand to have Ciel as she was when she was jealous.

"Hey, Zero." She grabbed a chair and sat down next to Zero.

_She's more casual today._ "Hey, Ciel." He couldn't get up and hug her or anything, since he was told to lay down in the capsule for a few hours. The wounds were fixed and healed, but he needed time to regain his vitality back. Although the rest was for getting Zero more comfortable, it was actually bothering him. He was laying on his ponytail, and it was irritating because not only was he sitting on his hair but it was also being pulled. Zero doesn't like it when his hair is pulled.

"How much longer until I can finally get up?"

"Not for about two days, I'm afraid."

"Damn." If Zero could move his arms, he would have crossed them.

"So what happened back at Neo Arcadia? Are the Reploforce armies driven out yet?"

Zero pursed his lips. "I don't think they were any Reploforce armies of any kind, Ciel. There were only the three Reploforce Guardians there."

"What? I thought it would be heavily guarded." Ciel had a confused look on her face.

_I thought so, too. Something doesn't add up._ He wasn't going to figure it out just by laying in a capsule. He needed to get out there and do _something_.

Ciel must have read Zero's mind. "For now Zero, just rest." She got up to walk out of the room.

"Wait."

Ciel looked at Zero. "What is it?"

"What do you think is the purpose for reploids wanting to get rid of humans?"

Ciel thought about it.

"I suppose for freedom. After the Energy Crisis they suddenly lost their freedom and their lives as well."

"But why would they go after us? Reploforce tried to destroy the Resistance by sending that ship."

"They may have thought we were helping Neo Arcadia."

"They couldn't have. The Resistance is neutral. How would they know whose side we are on?"

"Maybe because the fact that we _are _neutral may lead them to think we're an obstacle."

"If they really cared for reploids to have their freedom they wouldn't target us. The majority of the Resistance are reploids." Zero looked up at the ceiling. "Something isn't right."

Ciel sat herself back down next to Zero.

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?"

Zero closed his eyes.

"Yeah."

**Change of scene**

When he woke up, he still was injured, but he could finally move. The other Guardians haven't checked up on him yet, so he decided to take the opportunity to bury Eartha. Humans usually believed that they should bury or cremate the dead. For reploids, the body (or parts of it) is usually sent to the scrap heap for future use, another kind of recycling.

Harpuia wanted to bury Eartha because the last image he needed in his mind was Eartha getting pulverized by some recycling factory. He still couldn't move his leg, so he had to bury her using his hands and only his hands.

As he was about to drop Eartha's body in the hole, he noticed something. The sabers had gone right through her, revealing her insides. Inside of her stomach, their was a little black box. Harpuia took it out and examined it.

_What is this? This thing looks like small chip Zero told me about._

When Harpuia was recovering in the Resistance, Zero told him that he was being controlled by Reploforce. He had also said that they used a small chip attached to the neck to do so.

_Could they both be of the same kind of device? Their designs are the same. Why would they need to control Eartha?_

An hour or so later, he finished putting Eartha in the hole and filling it back up. He patted the spot where she was buried.

"A proper burial." He mourned silently for Eartha, still clutching the black box.

"I have no idea where reploids go after death, or if there even is another life after death. Wherever you are, I hope you'll be happier there than here."

Harpuia still had his regrets on killing her, but he knew it was for the best. If he hadn't done it, chances are likely she would have done the deed. He did want her to still be alive, so that maybe he could have shown her the brighter side of things, maybe even have her as a Guardian?

Of course, he knew all this wishful thinking wouldn't help. He couldn't dwell on what he did already, but he should be focused on what he should be doing right now.

"And right now, I should be focused on getting back to shape." _And I also have to find out why Reploforce would use this box to-_

"And you should start by getting yourself into the Maintenance Room and stop talking to yourself."

Harpuia smirked. "It's about time you came, Leviathan."

"I just finished cleaning out all of the snow in my temple." She picked Harpuia up, as if she were the knight in shining armor and Harpuia was the princess being whisked away.

"Are you comfortable, Harpuia?"

"Your hand is on my ass. You're pressing my body against yours, which is crushing mine. To top it off, I look absolutely ridiculous being held like this. In comparison to the fight before, however, this is very comforting."

"Good." Leviathan smiled and carried him over to the Maintenance Room.

"Where's Fefnir?"

"He just recovered and can finally move, but he hasn't gone all the way back to 100 yet. Right now he's playing computer games again."

Harpuia chuckled. "Good 'ol Fefnir."

"You're awfully cheery all of the sudden. Is it because you're being whisked away by your knight in shining armor?"

"It would be amusing to realize that you would actually be a guy." Harpuia started laughing.

Leviathan was laughing too, mainly because she threw Harpuia over her head.

He landed with a loud thud. His body was still sore and most parts were still aching with pain. Harpuia winced when he fell to the ground, but compared to the pain he felt during the fight, this was nothing.

"Ow…" He tried to get up.

Leviathan held out a hand. "Are we done now?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

He took her hand and she lifted him up. This time, she flung him on her shoulder and carried him like he was a towel wrung over her shoulder. His head was facing backward while his rear was facing the front, along with Leviathan's face.

"How long will it take for me to recover completely?"

"Hmmm…" Leviathan thought. "For you to recover, I'm guessing about two days. To get back into shape and return to your regular duties, plus opening the gates and reorganizing the armies and settling down Neo Arcadia, I'd say about-"

"Never mind." Harpuia rubbed his head.

_It'll be even longer once I examine this black box._

**Change of scene**

"Not tired…"

Zero couldn't take it. He was trying to sleep and get some rest, but with everything that was on his mind, he couldn't. The thoughts were blaring like an alarm in his head, always popping up. There was never a time where he had a bad feeling about something. He _knew _there was something going on, some kind of conspiracy behind the war. However, that was probably a wacky theory.

It didn't mean he stopped thinking about it though. His body was saying it needed to jump out of the capsule and find out the truth. Of course, what the body actually felt was soreness and the need to recuperate. It was like something was almost calling him, telling him something was wrong. It was like something was whispering in his ear.

"Something doesn't add up. Something doesn't add up. Something doesn't add up. Something doesn't…"

Zero broke the capsule open and stepped out. He stretched his body out and shook off the soreness in his body. It had only been an hour since Ciel visited, and he was already feeling better. At least, he was feeling better physically.

Inside he had a sudden urge to find the container he had found in the factory. The container that Camo tried to capture. It had the markings similar to the Dark Elf. Now he felt like he was being pulled into it. Before he realized it, he was walking towards Ciel's lab. There were some glass shards in his hair and on his body, but he didn't stop. He just kept walking until the doors to Ciel's lab slid open.

She wasn't in there. From the looks of things, it seemed like she went on a break. The computer was still on, and mostly everything in the lab was still on. The monitor read "Ciel System Check #12" and it was humming and whirring. The disc of the plans that Reploforce had were near the disc drive. A cup of coffee was near the keyboard, and there was still steam rising from the cup. He looked around and he saw it.

The container Max helped get was in a lone section on her desk. It was away from the disorganized paper read-outs of the Ciel System. It was away from the cup of coffee and the disc. It was sitting there, all by itself on the corner of her desk.

Zero could feel his body etching closer and closer to the container. He could see his arm extending out to touch it, and maybe even open it. He had no control of his body anymore. It had a mind of its own, and all Zero could do was watch himself reach for the box slowly.

When he finally touched it, a sudden flash blinded his eyes. All at once images of soldiers fighting on a battlefield entered in his mind. The death cries of soldiers, reploid and human alike bounced in and out of his ears. Lastly, he saw the Dark Elf hovering over all of this with a pained look on her face, as if standing above the conflict hurt her even more than those who were fighting.

She cried, "Make it stop!"

A powerful wave of energy burst out of her body and completely decimated the entire battlefield. Nothing was left in its wake, not even scraps of reploids or any remaining human parts. Everything was reduced to dust.

Zero opened his eyes and realized he was back in Ciel's lab. However, he found himself on the floor near her desk. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

"Man…I think I'm going crazy…"

He stood upright and looked at the container again. This time, no strange control was over his body. This time, he _wanted _to open the container. He _wanted _to see what was inside. Camo didn't say anything about the Dark Elf being inside it, but what if it was? Ciel didn't say much about the container at all, so Zero had no idea what was in there, or even if it was important. Curiosity took over the Legendary Maverick Hunter and he placed his hand on the top.

There were no more sudden surprise visions, but he felt his hand trembling. He didn't know why all of the sudden he was so shaken.

"What's wrong with me?"

He shook his head and tried to open the top. He turned into carefully and lifted the cap off. When he did, he saw that inside the strange container there was…a sandwich. There was a half-eaten peanut-butter and jelly sandwich inside the container.

"Zero?"

He turned around and saw Ciel standing near the door. She had a confused look on her face. Her left hand was holding a pitcher of coffee while her right hand was free.

"I thought I told you to stay in the capsule, Zero! Your condition is slowly improving and you need…"

Her voice trailed off after she examined Zero by looking up and down. His physical condition was actually already restored. In fact, it looked better than it was when Zero was at 100 fitness.

"How did you…?"

Zero looked at his body as well. He didn't notice his sudden change until now. His body never looked like this even when he returned from a full repair. There was no possible way the capsule worked that fast.

"Honestly, I really don't know."

Ciel sighed. "Well, I guess you're going to have to explain that to Cerveau."

_Did I heal myself?_ He focused his attention back to the container.

"Ciel, why is there a sandwich in the container for the Dark Elf?" He pointed behind him.

"Oh, that thing? I was going to tell you, but I guess I forgot. Zero, that container is nothing special. I ran several tests through it, and it has nothing to do with the Dark Elf. The best use for it would be a lunch box."

"Well, it looks like you knew that already."

Ciel walked over to her desk and took the sandwich out of the container. "Still, I don't know why Reploforce would send one of its agents to capture this?"

_There's something going on._ It was clear now, that something indeed was taking place under the war.

Zero felt something. All of the sudden, he could _feel _where the Dark Elf was right now. His body felt like a compass, knowing the exact direction of the Dark Elf.

"Ciel! I can feel the Dark Elf!"

"Where, Zero?"

"It's…" Zero pointed in one direction, but then used his other hand to point in another. "I don't know…it feels like it's everywhere!"

Ciel looked worried. "Zero, are you _sure _you're feeling okay?"

Zero covered his face with his hands. "I'm fine, Ciel." He muffled.

"Are you really sure? I mean just now you're-"

Zero snapped. "I'M FINE CIEL! YOU WANT ME TO FEEL BETTER? THEN HOW ABOUT LEAVING ME ALONE?"

She stepped back a few steps. She was hurt. Immediately her face lost all radiance and any other emotion except for sadness.

Zero uncovered his face. "Ciel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"No…no it's okay, Zero." She turned away. "I'm going to go now." As she walked away, she sobbed a bit. Ciel was doing her best to hold back tears, but she just couldn't take it and ran to the bathroom, locking herself out.

Zero sighed. "I really did it this time."

The speaker came on.

"Zero, please report to the Command Room."

The Heartbreak Reploid started to walk out of the room. "Wonder what this is about?"

As he came into the Command Room, he noticed everyone inside seemed tense, and appeared to be very worried. Before he could ask what was wrong, he looked at the monitor.

There was a figure walking. Zero couldn't see the figure's face because the desert wind was blowing.

"Who is that? Are they out in the desert?" Zero turned to the Operators for answers.

"We honestly don't know. I think the message is coming from an camera of some sort."

Zero turned back to the monitor.

The figure spoke. The signal wasn't very good, so there was much static interrupting. However, Zero could still get the message.

"Zero. Reploforce's armies are headed for the Resistance. We are coming for the Dark Elf. You can try to hide it, but we will find it. As a courtesy of war, I suggest you prepare your armies for battle. You have 24 hours."

The message ended. Just as it did, about every soldier in the room tugged on their collars and gulped.

The voice sounded very familiar to Zero. The way this reploid spoke of war was that he regarded it very highly, as if to romanticize it to be something grand. He couldn't remember who it was.

"Looks like I finished just in time."

Everyone turned around to see that Cerveau had just entered the room.

"Finished what, Cerveau?" Zero was mixed up in his own problems that he almost forgot Cerveau was here.

"The weapons, Zero. I've finished making all of the weapons we need for this battle that we are going in. I've also made some other things to help us out. But, I couldn't have done it without this bright lad here.

Sam walked into the Command Room. He had less stains this time, and the color of his hair was noticeably blond now. "Hey, guys. We've just finished patching everything up. Sure as hell we're going to need it."

"Seeing that there is no longer a commander around, then I guess we need to take drastic action." Zero patted Cerveau on the back. "Meet your new commander, Cerveau."

All of the Resistance soldiers clapped.

"What? Me? Why would you…?"

"Don't play dumb with me Cerveau." Zero would always listen to Cerveau talk about how he would run things if he were commander. Usually all he does is make weapons or help repair things or reploids. He likes to do it, but he would rather run the combat strategies rather than make some more weapons. There were always battle ideas he was waiting to try out. Cerveau was always the most experimental reploid, and he wasn't afraid of taking risks. That was why Zero wanted him to be commander.

"Well, I'll do it! But, I need to ask Ciel first."

Zero stopped patting Cerveau. "I'll go get her."

"It's okay Cerveau, I think you'll make a great commander." Ciel was already inside the room. Her face was washed up now. There were no more tears, but her cheeks were still a bit flushed (no pun) after using the restroom.

"Thank you Ciel." Cerveau turned to the rest of the soldiers. "I'll figure out my battle plan later. Check back in an hour or so."

Everyone started to walk out of the room. Most were still unsure if Cerveau would make a good commander. Most would prefer Zero, but since Zero himself recommended Cerveau, they trusted him. Even Cerveau had his own doubts at first, but he was quick to build his confidence.

Ciel started to walk out of the room. Zero spotted her and tried to talk to her. However, many of the soldiers were crowded in the room, and they were bunched up in his way.

"Ciel! Wait!" Zero tried to call her, but not only did the soldiers block his way, but their voices and conversations also interfered with the sound of his voice. Ciel walked out of the room.

"Shit!" Zero clenched his fists. He needed to punch something.

Zero pushed his way out of the crowd.

The Blond Bomber stood outside of Ciel's lab. He knew she was in there, working so she could keep herself busy. One more step and the doors would open, but Zero had his second thoughts.

_Maybe I should give her some space…_

Still, he wanted to make up badly. It was bad enough for her to be neglected by him, but now he felt even more guilt after yelling at her. A simple apology was what he wanted, but now it was impossible. Zero actually _feared _going into Ciel's lab and apologizing.

_Some other time…_

He turned away and walked over to his room. It wasn't very late, but he felt like night had fallen already. The Heartbreak Reploid decided a quick nap would clear things up. The doors slid open and Zero walked inside. Even with his armor on, he immediately leaped onto the bed.

A few seconds after the doors had closed and Zero had fallen asleep, the doors to Ciel's lab opened. She walked out of her lab and was heading towards Zero's room. It was only a few steps away from her lab, but he stopped. She wanted to make up with Zero as well, but she felt that Zero was probably still mad at her.

_Maybe I should give him some time to cool off…_

It was understandable for her to know the stress on Zero's mind. It was obvious that there were more things on his mind than her.

_Some other time…_

She walked back into her lab and started working again.

**Change of scene**

Harpuia looked at the monitor of the computer.

"55 scan. This is going to take a while."

He already had been sitting and waiting for an hour already, with absolutely nothing to do. The Guardian even considered doing duty work instead of waiting, but he quickly took it back. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't anyways. His body wasn't completely repaired yet; he needed to wait for a day or so until he could actually walk again. Until then, he was in his wheelchair.

"This is odd. I've never been forced into rolling on a wheelchair ever. I wonder if other reploids go through this. I'd die right here if I went out like this in public. My reputation would be shattered."

Harpuia wheeled himself left and right, as if he were pacing. At the same time, he speculated on the reasons why the black box that had the same design as the chip used to control him would be inside Eartha's body. It seemed far-fetched at first, but now it was starting to make some sense.

"Since this is the same design, it must be used to manipulate reploids. However, the one used on me was a chip to stick outside of my skin, not on the inside. However, this black box seems to be a part of Eartha's body herself. That could explain the second personality. But, if it was already in her body, then her original personality must have been manipulated as well. So what this means is…"

"What it means is that sticking you into a wheelchair was a bad idea." Leviathan was standing near the door.

"I admit that it is an odd experience."

"It isn't so odd that you talk to yourself!"

"And you've been in a wheelchair before?"

Leviathan shrugged. "I don't think so."

Harpuia shook his head.

"So what do you need Leviathan? If you've come to poke fun at the handicapped Guardian then go ahead."

"Nah. I think you and the wheelchair ridicule yourselves enough already." She smirked. "So what _are _you doing besides 'pacing' in that wheelchair?"

"Nothing important. You haven't answered my question yet, Leviathan."

She rolled her eyes. "I came here to ask if could operate the targeting system for me. I can't activate it in the water you know."

"Why can't Fefnir help?"

"He's on duty."

Harpuia raised a brow. "And you aren't?"

"I'm training."

He sighed. _I'm surprised she hasn't made _me_ go on duty yet. Looks like __helping Leviathan train is more interesting than waiting for something to finish._ He turned back to the screen.

"55.5 scan. Screw this, let's go."

Leviathan smiled. "I knew you were going to say that." She walked over to Harpuia and grabbed his handles (wheelchair handles).

"You had better not roll me too-" Harpuia lost his voice when Leviathan pushed with mighty force.

"Damn you woman! AHHHHHHHH!" Harpuia was yelling as Leviathan was pushing Harpuia as fast as a child would push a shopping cart in a grocery store. It wasn't that it was too fast for Harpuia, but the idea of getting injured _again _and staying in the wheelchair even longer frightened him.

"Yee-haw!" Leviathan jumped and placed her feet onto the metal on top of the wheels. The momentum from her push propelled the two quite rapidly. They sped down the halls, but thankfully no one was in the way.

"Stop right now!" Harpuia found himself laughing as he said this. It was a refreshing experience, feeling the air blow in his face. The problem was, he was on a wheelchair, and he wasn't the one controlling the flight.

Leviathan laughed along with him and closed her eyes. Harpuia kept them opened but he was having s much fun that he didn't realize that the doors were still closed, and they were headed straight for them.

Leviathan noticed, however. "Harpuia! Watch out for that-"

They both crashed into the closed doors.

**Change of scene**

"Okay everyone! Here's the game plan!" Cerveau was standing on high above where the Operators were, discussing his battle plan by using the screen in the Command Room. Not all of the Resistance members could fit into the Command Room, so some waited outside while other passed on what he was saying. An hour ago these soldiers were doubtful, but now they really thought Cerveau could be a capable commander.

"There is only one way to get into the Resistance on ground. Reploforce can only get to us by breaking down our gate and rushing us. They can't bomb us with aerial units because our turrets and radar will detect them miles and miles away before they can reach us. With the Energy Shortage Crisis still going about, I highly doubt they even have the right supplies to stage a full aerial assault."

The soldiers cheered and whistled, even though Commander Cerveau didn't even state the plan yet. That didn't mean he didn't appreciate it, however. He moved on with his plan.

"So making sure the gate is protected is our main priority. There is no way other than getting past it directly can they invade us. There will be four classes of units. First are the Interceptors, who will be the ones at the front line holding them off."

Cerveau gestured for Sam to bring up examples of weapons they will be armed with. He brought up a box and handed it to Cerveau.

"They will be specializing in melee combat. Each of the Interceptors will get protective suits, beam sabers, and a shield for emergency. I request that Zero will lead this unit."

Zero was on the left side of the room, leaning against the wall.

"You know I wouldn't refuse." He smirked.

The soldiers cheered. However, one soldier raised up his hand, trying to get Command Cerveau's attention.

He noticed. "Yes, you in the white?"

The reploid was indeed dressed in white, standing out from the mass of soldiers were green uniforms. He wore a white T-shirt. The pants he wore were a different design. The jeans were black in overall color, but there were strips of white along the legs of his jeans. The leather jacket he wore was also white, and it had a Japanese symbol colored in black on the back of it that read "Ghost." Of course, no one knew Japanese so they couldn't read it. His hair a bit long, reaching down to his shoulders, but he just left it there. It usually isn't ever combed, but it was naturally smooth and white.

He spoke. "The name's Ghost. My question is that may I have permission to use my own weapon?"

The soldier moved out of the way to get a better view of Ghost's weapon. It was a Japanese katana in a white sheath, decorated with black Japanese symbols around it.

Cerveau raised an eyebrow. "You must be one of our newer members, correct?"

"Yeah."

The katana was made of the same metal used to block beam sabers and such. Cerveau couldn't tell, but he was always willing to let someone have it their way when it came to weapons.

"Very well."

Max was also in the room. He scoffed and twirled his pistol. _I got my own weapon, too._

The soldiers around Ghost whispered to each other, exchanging short opinions on how Ghost looked.

Zero noticed a striking resemblance between Ghost and Phantom. They both were reserved, and only focused on what they were doing. Ghost acted like Phantom, although his accent was different and Ghost wasn't serving Neo Arcadia: he was serving the Resistance.

"Now for the next order of business. The next unit will be the Rangers. These men will provide the cover fire on ground when the Interceptors battle. They will be armed with buster rifles and rapid-fire busters guns for emergency. They will also be on the front line with the Interceptors."

He pointed to the diagram showing the positions of the units.

"The Interceptors will be right outside the gate while the Rangers will be behind them providing cover fire. The next unit will be high above on top of the gates. There is a path for you to walk on and openings where your weapons will be able to fit in. These Sharpshooters will be responsible to shooting down any air units present and for taking shots of the more heavier enemies, for example, Golems. You will be armed with high mark sniper rifles with secondary laser. I'll also have some Interceptors near them just in case anything is on the gate.

"The last unit will be the Heavy Artillery. We will not use this until our gates are brought down and they are right outside of our base. These are mobile suits fitted with two larges buster cannons, rapid-fire guns and megaton grenades. We only have seven of these, so we need men who don't want to be on the front line."

The soldiers whispered amongst themselves on which unit they'll be taking.

"The unit sign-up sheets will be handed to all on your way out. Fill in the form for Interceptor, Ranger, Sharpshooter, or Heavy Artillery. Keep in mind that if one position is filled up, then you'll be transferred to another. Do not be afraid. We can do this! No matter how many men they could possibly assemble, we will survive and win!"

The crowd of soldiers were about to cheer until one of the Operators said, "We have a message trying to get through. It's from Reploforce again."

The monitor changed from the diagram into the grainy camera of the marching Reploforce again.

"By the way, I hope your puny base can survive an onslaught of 10,000 reploid soldiers. If you want to surrender now, just let me know and hand over the Dark Elf."

Most of the reploid soldiers in the Command Room tugged on their collars and gulped. They had no idea Reploforce was coming at them with an army that size. Most were ready to back down.

Cerveau, despite this new information, did not back down.

"We will not surrender! You might as will rip the Dark Elf away from my hands if you can!"

"Very well. See you soldiers on the battlefield. I'll be seeing you soon, Zero."

The message ended and the screen went black. Every single reploid in the Command Room fell silent to hear what Cerveau had to say.

He just smiled. "I guess this calls for a plan B, huh?"

Everyone was surprised, even Zero. No one thought even in dire moments such as this Cerveau could still joke around. However, he wasn't.

"Despite their many men, I do have an alternate plan just in case they can break through our defenses."

The monitor turned on again and went to a new diagram.

"You see, they'll be attacking our gate, obviously. In the event that they happen to almost break it down, then we strike with this."

Cerveau gestured for Sam to bring something. He lifted something large, round, and metallic. Groaning under its heavy weight, Sam managed to put it next to Cerveau for everyone to see.

"This is a bomb. Before you all panic, it can only be detonated or set off by a special key and a press of a button Zero has the key.."

Zero pulled the key out of his pocket and showed everybody.

"After this key is inserted, the button has to be pressed. When it detonates, the timer will start from thirteen seconds and then explode. The plan is to place the bomb near the front of the gates, right in front of Reploforce. When it is set off, it should be able to completely demolish the forces in that area. Also, if that happens, then the gates will hopefully tip in their direction and squash the remaining forces flat."

The soldiers started to clap. Then they started to cheer. Cerveau kept going.

"Of course, there is no guarantee that it will take out _all _of their forces. After the gates have fallen, we will assemble the Heavy Artillery for our last stand, defending the Resistance with whatever we have left against their remaining forces."

The soldiers stopped clapping.

One asked, "How many men _do _we have?"

Cerveau looked down to the ground, and then brought his face back up again.

"I'd say no more than 1,500."

The soldiers started to murmur.

Another soldier shouted, "How the hell are we going to take down 10,000 soldiers when there's only 1,500 of us? I say we quit and join Reploforce!"

Some soldiers started to agree while others were too scared to choose. Cerveau started shuffling uncomfortably.

"Look at yourselves!"

Every soldier turned to where the voice was coming from. It was none other than Ciel, standing at the door, looking quite enraged.

"Why do you think you came to the Resistance? You all came here to get away from Neo Arcadia! Now when the odds are stacked against you, you want to go to _Reploforce?_ What makes you think it will be any different from Neo Arcadia? If you want to leave then fine, but I'm staying here."

She crossed her arms and stared at everybody with hardened eyes.

Zero was impressed. "I agree. I've been in tougher situations in my life. Believe me, 10,000 to 1,500 men is nothing from what I've gone through."

Some soldiers nodded in agreement while others murmured.

"I'm in, too."

Everyone turned to Ghost.

"You all heard me right. 10,000 sounds fun to fight anyways. I'm up for it."

Max scoffed. "Don't forget about me! I can take them all, too!"

Other soldiers started to agree.

"Yeah, so can I!"

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

"Bring 'em on!"

Cerveau smiled. "Thank you, thank you all!"

The entire room roared with the sounds of cheers.

All of the soldiers started walking out of the room, pumped up and ready for battle. They all grabbed the sign-up sheets and started talking with each other on what unit they'll be in. To them, 10,000 seemed like a cakewalk.

As they all left, Zero looked around for Ciel again. This time however, he didn't see her. He sighed and started to walk out of the room.

"Zero, wait!"

Zero turned around. Cerveau was the one who was calling him.

"Zero, wait! I need to talk to you!"

"What's up, Commander?"

Cerveau was flattered, but he went on. "I need to really know: is my plan _that_ good? I mean, doesn't it sound foolish?"

"If you think it's foolish then you can take it back."

"No! I don't want to do that. It's just…"

Zero smiled. "Nervous?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry, Cerveau. I hear you revise battle plans all of the time. Especially when Elpizo was around."

Cerveau smiled. "Well, he _did _have some critical errors…"

"The question is, are you ready to put your life on the line?"

"Absolutely. In fact, I'll be out there myself."

Zero hung his jaw open. "What?"

"What good is a commander when all he does is make plans? I got to play them out, Zero."

"Heh, you're right."

"Thank you, Zero. You gave me the boost I needed to get us through this."

"No problem." Zero started to walk out again.

"Wait."

He turned around again. "What is it now, Cerveau?"

Cerveau held up two silver bracelets.

"Ciel asked me to give these to you. Seeing we are heading off to battle, she wants you to wear these for good luck charms."

Zero took them and put them on, one in each wrist. _I wonder why she didn't ask me in person?_

"Thanks, Cerveau. Tell Ciel I said 'thank you' for me."

"Of course I will."

The Legendary Maverick Hunter walked out of the room and headed for his. Right before he was about to go into his room, he looked at the room right next to his. Ciel's lab was very close, but he decided not to visit. He looked at the bracelets again.

"It's a start." He walked into his room.

**Change of scene**

"66.8 scan. Crap, I could fly laps around Earth about 50 times and it would be in the seventies."

Just before they were about to hit the doors, Leviathan jumped off and tipped the wheelchair forward, so the only thing that got hit was Harpuia's head. He wore his helmet to cover the notable bump on his head. Harpuia had finally gotten out of the wheelchair. It had been only a few minutes since the accident with Leviathan, but now he could stand. However, he wasn't back to 100 yet. If one solid punch were to hit his leg he would go down quickly. Fortunately for him, he had nowhere to go at the moment, so he didn't have to walk.

_That's the last time I do something like _that_ again. _He sighed and paced left and right, waiting for the scan to finish. This time he paced a bit slower because he would feel some pain if he went too fast. He could still fly if he had his boosters fixed. At the moment, they were being repaired.

He stared at the black box. _I wonder if it really is the same design as the chip. I'd better go ask Zero if he still has it._

The truce between the Resistance and Neo Arcadia was still in place because neither side bothered to call it off. So Harpuia figured he could just walk in there and get the chip. The problem was, he had sneak out furtively. Since he didn't his boosters, he couldn't fly over there. The only option left was to use the portable trans server.

Even after the incident, Leviathan specifically told (nagged) him not to go anywhere or do anything that involves walking of any kind outside of the room he was in. Being his usual self, he defied Leviathan. The Guardian had a great amount of discipline, it was just that he had trouble not doing something he felt like doing. After Copy X was free from Neo Arcadia rule, he got used to calling his own shots, for a while at least.

Harpuia was in a simple T-shirt and pants. He would usually keep on his armor, but he didn't feel like it this time. It would only add more weight to him, and the last thing his legs needed was more weight to carry. He found the portable trans server in the Operations Room. Neither Leviathan or Fefnir was inside the room, so he set the coordinates for the Resistance Base. However, there was a problem.

"What?" Harpuia tried to enter the coordinates, but the trans server couldn't pinpoint a good spot because there were too many readings. He turned on the large monitor to see the diagram showing the readings. There appeared to be myriads of dots heading towards the Resistance Base. The Guardian read the total count and it read "10,000."

**Change of scene**

**Zero stood on top of the gate gazing at the sunset. It would be the next day that the battle would begin. He close his eyes and listened to the wind.**

"What cha' doing, Zero?" Max walked up to Zero.

He opened his eyes. "Listening."

Max looked at the sunset. "Listening to what?"

"The whispers."

The Rookie scratched his head. "I only hear the wind."

"Usually in a war, you could hear whispers on the battlefield before a battle starts. It's not a cry of a soldier or anything, it's just a whisper you hear, but you can't understand."

Max was already lost. He tried closing his eyes and listened. He heard something.

"Hey! I hear it!"

Zero looked at Max. "That's it."

"What is it?"

His face had a downcast expression, but his eyes were ready for battle.

"That's the whisper of a war."

**Change of scene**

It was early morning. The sun hadn't risen yet, but the Resistance soldiers turned on some lights around the gate so they could see where it was. Not only was it dark, but it was pouring as well. The air was cold, and there was lightning. It roared across the sky as the sounds of marching grew louder and louder. The Resistance soldiers were already in their positions: Interceptors in front, Rangers behind them, Sharpshooters on top of the gate and the Heavy Artillery wasn't activated yet.

The gate had a walkway on top for the soldiers to shoot from. It was very high up, and it was about twice as high as a turret was. The armor coating was very thick, about as thick as the gates in Neo Arcadia. However, there were some parts in it that were not covered in layers of armor, but rather occupied with blasters. They were automatic, so all the Resistance soldiers needed to do was press a button and the gate would start shooting its own blasts.

About half of the entire Resistance were either Interceptors or Rangers. It was a huge gamble to make, but in war risks had to be taken. They all blocked the front of the gates with a long line of soldiers ready for combat. Despite the rain, lightning, and cold air the soldiers managed to stay focused. They all kept their eyes on the Reploforce army marching in front of them.

Zero turned to them all. "Are you guys ready?"

All of the soldiers yelled and cheered loudly, indicating that they were indeed ready.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter turned around to face the enemy.

The Reploforce armies were hard to see because it was dark and raining, but they had their own lights as well, so Zero could see their faces a bit. The Reploforce soldiers looked no different than the Resistance soldiers, besides the uniforms anyways. Even though they were several feet away, Zero could tell that they were also focused on the objective. However, he felt something wasn't right. It was that feeling again.

_Now is not the time._ Zero simply watched as the Reploforce army stopped in their tracks. They turned their lights off, and their eyes gleamed a faint red in the darkness.

Zero drew his Z-saber. He took one last look at the Resistance soldiers behind them. In the dark weather and rain, they all nodded their heads and smiled. It would be the last time Zero would see some of these soldiers. He knew it, they knew it. It didn't stop anybody.

On his left was Ghost, who was ready to fight. Farther behind him, there was Max. Since he was a rookie, he couldn't get a higher position of rank, but at least he was able to be in the front line. He gave Zero a thumbs-up sign.

Zero turned back and faced the Reploforce army. This would be the battle that they would have to fight to survive.

He activated his Z-saber. The Resistance soldiers followed suit. The Rangers got their guns ready and so did the Sharpshooters up high. The gate activated its own defenses.

"ATTACK!" Zero yelled at the top of his lungs and pointed his Z-saber forward. The Resistance army charged into battle. The Resistance Rangers released fire while the Sharpshooters quickly began to shoot down Reploforce soldiers from above. The gates defenses were activated and it began to shoot out lasers.

Lightning struck and the Reploforce soldiers charged into battle. Some immediately fell, getting hit by the many shots while the rest charged. Most of them were melee-armed. They had beam claws while the other soldiers in the farther back had large cannons. This was advantageous to the Resistance, because since most were melee, the Rangers had almost no worries about getting shot. The Reploforce soldiers didn't have very thick armor on either, so the Interceptors could easily dispatch each soldier. However, there were many, many more soldiers coming, so it would be an interminable task.

All of the ranged Reploforce soldiers focused their fire on the gate itself. Most of them were not rifle-wielding soldiers; they were setting up large energy cannons and ballistae with bombs. There were many flying over the heads of the Resistance soldiers. Only the Sharpshooters could shoot them down from high above, but most were focusing their fire on the Reploforce Golems stomping their way through. They were still far off, but they were advancing closer. There were probably about three dozen.

Thankfully, Cerveau was on top of the gates with the Sharpshooters, and he ordered them to shoot down the ballistae and cannons. With high-powered long ranged lasers, some were taken out with only a few shots. Of course, the ranged weapons seemed endless, as each time one was destroyed, two others came behind it.

Down below, Zero and the Interceptors were doing well holding the Reploforce soldiers off, but that was all they can do. The army was too big to force back, and the Resistance army down there was too small to advance forward. All they did was slash away at the soldiers as they came. None of the Interceptors had been destroyed yet, but the Reploforce soldiers scored some slashes in.

What was strange to Zero is how the Reploforce soldiers fought. Usually, regular reploids would have a more logical sense of battle than just charging at the opponent and attacking carelessly. The Reploforce soldiers fought to better than the Pantheon Guardians did. It was like they were mere drones.

Zero did not like this one bit. It wasn't a battle; it was a slaughter. These reploids were just falling in battle with no emotion whatsoever. He was becoming hesitant at first, but then some Reploforce soldiers got a slash in. They claws were surprisingly sharp, and he couldn't afford to get careless. He had to toughen up.

Although they were only reploids fighting on the wrong side, he had to fight. The Legendary Maverick Hunter yelled as he decapitated several soldiers around him with one swipe of his Z-saber. Then he withdrew it and pulled out his All-purpose Rod. The two sharp ends stuck out and Zero twirled it over his head, slicing and dicing any soldier in his path.

The other soldiers didn't have the same proficiency as Zero in melee combat, but they were doing well on their own slashing and blocking with their shields. Ghost, however, was a different story entirely.

The Resistance soldiers' uniforms had a thin layer of armor, but it was armor nevertheless. Ghost, however, wore clothes that were just clothes. He would have no protection if one of the soldiers were to slash at his body. He never gave them a chance anyways. Ghost's combat style was notably fitted to take on multiple enemies. Every time he would draw his sword he would do it at an angle to he would slash some soldiers. He could do more, but that was all he could possibly do, because the Resistance could only hold the Reploforce army off, not push them back.

Despite being pelted by the shots of the Rangers and the Sharpshooters, the soldiers just kept coming and coming. Even the Interceptors were starting to get tired. The cannons and ballistae were being shot down, but most were still firing on the gate. The gate looked smooth and new before, but only in a matter of minutes did the gate already seemed to start to look damaged. A couple of layers of armor were already destroyed, and now the ranged weapons had a new target: the Interceptors and Rangers.

The bombs were flung to the air and came down straight for a line of Interceptors. The large balls of explosive material made contact and blew up everything in that area, both Resistance and Reploforce soldiers. Zero cursed under his breath, realizing that if this continued, all of the Resistance Interceptors would be gone.

While he was still fighting he yelled to the Rangers, "Focus your fire on the bombs! Blow the bombs up before they blow us up!" This would mean the Rangers would have to fire at the bombs before they would hit the ground, meaning that now the Interceptors had the sole job of holding off all of the soldiers. However, it was hard to see because of the rain and dark weather. In order to hit the bombs, they had to rely on the light other explosions gave off to quickly spot the bomb while it's still in the air and shoot it down.

They were successful in doing so. Not only did it save most of the Interceptors, but it also gave them light for them to see what they were fighting. Zero thought this was going well, but he realized that the Golems were getting closer. The Sharpshooters were too busy taking out the ballistae and the cannons to shoot the golems, and the Rangers were too busy taking out the bombs over the Interceptors, who were holding off the soldiers. No unit was attacking the Golems.

Ghost must have read Zero's mind, because he too also saw the Golems advancing. Taking the situation into his own hands, Ghost started to advance forward while attacking. The Reploforce soldiers' formation was too tight to be penetrated, so he had to use an alternate method. Ghost became transparent and started to run _through _the Reploforce soldiers. Zero didn't have time to look, but he probably wouldn't be able to see anyways because of the dark weather.

The transparent reploid kept running until he reached a Golem. He changed back into his regular form and quickly climbed up the Golem's back. It tried to grab Ghost, but it couldn't because he was right behind the Golem's head, and it couldn't reach that area. Another Golem was walking beside and saw Ghost. Instinctively it raised a fist and threw a punch at Ghost. He quickly leaped over the fist as it came down on the other Golem, whose head was punched right off.

Ghost landed on the fist and started dashing up the other Golem's arm. The Golem's eyes glowed and it shot out two lasers. Instead of becoming transparent or jumping off, Ghost leaped up and barrel-rolled over the laser in a 180 degree roll. He was still upside-down flying towards the Golem in mid-air, so he unsheathed his sword when he got close enough. The unsheathing was actually an attack, since one fast unsheathe of a sword from its scabbard would be very powerful. The sword sliced the Golem's head in half and he landed right-side-up, but Ghost wasn't done. He stabbed his sword into the Golem's back and jumped down. As he was falling down, he pulled the sword with him, and it cut the Golem into two pieces by the time he landed. The large pieces fell left and right of Ghost, squashing any Reploforce soldiers in those areas. By the time Ghost had landed, melee Reploforce soldiers started to attack him, and he had to defend. A slash caught him by surprise and glazed his arm a bit. It was a shallow cut, but it hurt him since he wasn't wearing armor. He became transparent and continued destroying other Golems.

Cerveau could see that the Reploforce army was starting to advance very close to the gates. It was time to begin "Plan B." He grabbed a large cannon. It contained a huge flare, bright enough to outshine fireworks. He aimed straight up in the air and launched the flare. It exploded in the air in a brilliant flash of green.

The Resistance army looked up and recognized the signal. Ghost retreated and started heading back to the others. The only door to the other side of the gate opened as the Rangers started filing in. Most of the Interceptors were still fighting, holding the Reploforce soldiers off so the Rangers could get in. This proved problematic, because the Rangers stopped shooting the bombs out. Now the bombs blasted most of the Interceptors who weren't protected away.

Zero looked behind him to see who didn't make it in yet. Some of the surviving Interceptors started to retreat, but he noticed Max and Ghost still fighting right outside the gate, not going in yet.

"Ghost! Max! Get in there!"

Ghost and Max yelled to Zero, "What about you?"

"I'll come after you, just go in!"

They hesitated for a moment but quickly ran into the small door to the other side. Zero quickly followed after them, but suddenly a bomb came from above and blew Zero away. It also caved in the only door leaving Zero stranded outside of the gate. The Blond Bomber landed farther in the Reploforce army. He was several feet away from the gates now, but he couldn't see because the Reploforce army was trampling over Zero as if they didn't notice him.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter used his Inflammatory Body to release a burst of fire, blowing away any soldier around him. Now the soldiers noticed he was there. They started to surround him, activating their beam claws and waiting for his move. Zero noticed that he was standing on top of a dead Resistance soldier. He mourned silently and picked up the beam saber the soldier had used. He activated it in his left hand while he drew his Z-saber with his right hand. Zero quickly scanned the area around him, and it appeared that every soldier around his area was focusing on him while the others started to attack the unguarded gate.

_I have to get back there!_

One Reploforce soldier felt brave and leaped at Zero with his beam claws ready. The Legendary Maverick Hunter slashed the soldier with the left beam saber and then connected with a second slash with his Z-saber, slicing the soldier into three pieces. Now all the other soldiers started to charge in. Zero thrust the left beam saber to his left side and stabbed a soldier trying to come in from the side. He kicked the soldier who was trying to come in from the front while he slashed horizontally at the soldiers behind him while he kept his eyes in front. Other soldiers were coming at him, so Zero spun around with his sabers and sliced them all, but now even more came.

_I got to get out of here!_

Zero activated his Light Body Chip and changed to Active Form. With a mighty jump, he leaped into the air and slashed other soldiers who were trying to hit him in mid-air. Since his body was light, he seemed to float up into the air. He kicked off a soldier behind him in mid-air and used the force of the kick to fly into another soldier and slash him. Another soldier took his place and tried to jump at Zero, but he just kicked the soldier in the legs and jumped to the other side. The Maverick Hunter knew he could jump endlessly, but he had to find a way to go higher. He saw his answer when he noticed a ballista with a bomb underneath him. A small smirk came from Zero's face as he got an idea.

He threw the beam saber he picked up at the bomb. It pierced through and the bomb exploded. The blast from the bomb propelled him higher into the air since his body was nearly weightless. The Reploforce soldiers with the beam claws also jumped higher as Zero did. The Maverick Hunter switched grips on his Z-saber and drew his Shield Boomerang. He slashed at a soldier and used his double-jump ability to spiral somersault backwards towards the direction of the gate. In the middle of his somersault he threw the Shield Boomerang at the soldiers flying after him. The boomerang cut one soldier while it flew past the other two. Then it arced and flew back into the other two soldiers, slicing them as well.

At the end of his jump Zero landed on top of a Reploforce soldier's head. Since his body was light-weighted, he didn't crush the soldier. However, the soldier quickly noticed and was about to attack Zero from underneath. Thinking quickly, Zero started to hop from one head to another, using them as stepping stones. He was moving far too quickly for the soldiers to catch him. By the time he was close to the gate, he jumped off of the last soldier's head and leaped high into the air. In mid-air, he caught his Shield Boomerang, which finally found its way back to him. While he was falling down, he put the Shield Boomerang away and started to charge up his right hand.

"Giga Attack!"

Zero punched downward and released a wave of energy that blew every soldier around him away from the gate. There wasn't much time for Zero to recover from the jump, because already the soldiers started using ranged weapons and fired at him. He reacted too slow and forgot to change to Defense Form when the shots hit him. The Blond Bomber was getting bombed, and he had to think fast if he wanted to make it out alive. He knew Cerveau must have been waiting on the top of the gate to drop the bomb, so he had to make it up there somehow.

_It would take too long to wall-climb up the gate…_

He had one crazy idea, but he was willing to try it out. The Legendary Maverick Hunter mentally crossed his fingers and jumped onto the gate. With a quick glance above, he starting _running_ up the gate. With his Light Body Chip he wouldn't be able to fall off of the gate, but one powerful explosion near him would blow him off. It was a risky choice, since he would be an open target for the ballistae, but he had to get to safety before the bomb would be sent.

There were some Reploforce soldiers on the gate as well, trying to climb up using their beam claws. They spotted Zero and jumped for him, trying to attack him while he was running up the gate.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter was well aware of this since the light from their beam claws gave their position away. He withdrew his Z-saber and drew his All-purpose rod, activating both ends to slash the soldiers into pieces as he ran up the gate.

By now he was halfway up the gate, but by the time it would take for him to get to the top and get the bomb ready would take too long; any longer and then by the time they detonate the bomb, the gate would tip in the direction away from the Reploforce soldiers because of the non-stop attacks. Zero had to detonate the bomb quickly, but even at his fastest it would take too long.

One of the ballistae shot a bomb above Zero. The bomb hit the gate hard and the impact shook everything around it. The smoke covered Zero and Cerveau nearly tripped since the explosion radius reached the top of the gate. This caused Cerveau to drop the bomb!

Zero dug his rod into the gate, so he didn't fall off. He didn't have time to wipe the sweat off of his face because now he saw the bomb coming down above him. He was only halfway up the gate and the bomb was reaching him fast. At first the Blond Bomber thought this would be bad, but the situation quickly turned to his favor. He picked the key out of his pocket and threw it at the bomb, hoping it would make it into the slot.

Whether it was luck or skill, the key made it into the slot. Now the bomb was falling close to Zero. He pulled out the rod and started to run up the gate again. The bomb and the Bomber met at three-quarters of the gate. Zero only had about half a second, but that was all he needed. When he was right next to the bomb, he pressed the detonation button in mid-air and kept running up the gate while the bomb's timer counted down as it fell.

13...Zero is still running up the gate.

12...Cerveau regains his balance and sees Zero running up the gate, flabbergasted.

11...A ballista launches one of its soldiers toward Zero's and Cerveau's position.

10...Max, Ghost, and the remaining Resistance soldiers wait on the other side of the gate.

9..."Anytime now Zero…" Max clenches his fist.

8...Zero makes it to the top, jumping over Cerveau and landing next to him.

7...Cerveau ducks.

6...The Reploforce soldier launched lands right next to Zero.

5...Zero prepares to slash at the soldier, but Cerveau beats him to it and shoots the soldier's head off with one of the beam snipers he picked off of the ground.

4...Zero motions for them to jump.

3...Cerveau shakes his head. "Are you crazy?"

2..."We'll go together."

1...Cerveau shakes his head once more and jumps, followed by Zero.

Alouette throws her stuffed animal in the air and it drops to the ground.

0...The bomb drops to the ground.

When the bomb exploded, it was bright enough to turn a rainy night into day for a split-second. It didn't break the gate, but it crumbled the ground supporting the gate, so it would tip one way or another. Cerveau and Zero jumped just before the explosion rocked the gate and the ground. They were trying to slide down the gate using only their feet! Thankfully, their weight gave the extra push to tip the gate over toward the Reploforce soldiers. As the gate began to fall, the incline allowed Zero and Cerveau to slide down easier.

As the gate came down, the Reploforce soldiers tried to shoot at the gate, but that didn't helped as they were squashed by the weight of the gate.

Zero and Cerveau were at the end of the gate when it was laying on the ground. The Resistance soldiers cheered as they ran to them both.

Max thrust his arm in the air. "We won!"

The rest of the soldiers joined him in celebration as they yelled and cheered for their victory. However, Zero and Cerveau didn't cheer at all and stared at the fallen gate.

"Did it really work?" Ghost asked them.

"They aren't all destroyed." Cerveau crossed his arms.

"What? No way! Did you see what just happened? There's no way…" Max stopped in mid-sentence.

The remaining Reploforce soldiers marched through the dust cloud. The red outline in their eyes were the light in the rain. As they marched closer, more and more seem to come.

"Uh…how many did we get with the gate plan?"

"I lost count, Max." Cerveau said.

"Now what?" Max could tell their were still many more soldiers to defeat.

"Plan C."

Everyone looked at Cerveau.

"What's 'Plan C'?"

Cerveau cocked his beam sniper.

"That's the plan where we make our last stand."

Zero nodded in agreement and activated his Z-saber.

There were only about 700 soldiers still able to fight while the rest were either injured or dead.

The soldiers activated their weapons and formed a line, protecting the Resistance Base.

The Heavy Artillery marched in to aid the remaining soldiers. They had an open cockpit with two beam guns in the metal hands. Each one came with a self-destruct system, just in case of dire situations.

The Resistance charged into battle.

As they fought, the rain was beginning to turn into a light sprinkle, and then it stopped. The sun was rising on top of the mountain slope.

"It's dawn…" Zero said.

One of the Resistance soldiers shouted, "Look! To the East!"

There seemed to be a shining emerald figure in front of the blinding sun.

"A Sage is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he needs to."

Harpuia looked down at the battlefield. He looked at the Resistance and then the Reploforce army. The Emerald Guardian was riding on a rebuilt Aztec Falcon. He had new armor fitted for this battle. It was a bit heavier this time because he put more on. It was more of a knight's armor, with his whole body covered in glowing jade armor. Instead of his usual dual beam sabers, he had two long beam sabers, each one as long as a lance. His helmet had also gone through some changes. The two ears were now small wings while the center of his helmet was shaped like a sharp beak of a hawk. His face wasn't covered.

A loud vroom sound came from Harpuia's left side. Fefnir rolled in with his new Fefnir-Truck 5. It had five cannons, four around the corners and a rotating cannon behind him. It had been rebuilt since he used the truck against a battle with Zero, but now it sported more armor and more firepower. Fefnir fondly referred to his Fefnir-Truck 5 as "the most tricked out ride ever built by the one and only Fefnir." The Bellicose Bruiser suited himself up with only larger shoulder armor-pads. It seemed as if he meant to only fight with his Fefnir-Truck 5.

"Dude, you sound completely ridiculous talking in third person." Fefnir chuckled.

"Let him have his moment, Fefnir. Harpuia may sound ridiculous talking in third person, but you sound ridiculous talking _period._"

Harpuia smirked and looked to his right side. Actually, he had to look up because Leviathan was riding on her metallic-blue sea serpent. It was fitted with armor instead of being made out of ice, or else it would have melted. The Bold Beauty had fitted herself with a little bit more armor than usual. Her usual chest plate was now part of a one-piece armor enforced with another layer. The armor reached down to her hips, covering her mid-section. Her forearms and elbows were covered with a long sleeve-like armor. She wore metal boots that reached up to her kneecaps. She had her usual trident with two sharp ends on the top and a third spike coming out of the center. This time she wore a full helmet, so she tied her hair into a ponytail, resembling Zero's style. She even had the two pieces of the Tears of Sát'u embedded in the center of her helmet.

Fefnir scoffed while Harpuia chuckled.

"I'm surprised the base hasn't been completely overrun yet. They held out longer than I thought."

"Is this the part where we charge down screaming at the top of our lungs coming to the aid of the Resistance?" Fefnir asked.

"Don't be foolish. You've been playing too many action games, Fefnir." Harpuia drew one of his long beam sabers and activated it.

"Now, to the King!"

Fefnir looked at Harpuia. "What?"

"I said CHARGE!"

The Guardians of Neo Arcadia charged down the mountain slope. Harpuia rode on Aztec Falcon while he glided down. Leviathan motioned for her serpent to slither down, and Fefnir revved up the engines and floored it, riding down. Behind them were Neo Arcadian reploid soldiers on hover-bikes followed by Pantheon Hunters, Hammers, Guardians, Hoppers, and Launchers riding inside hover-trucks. The total count of the Neo Arcadian army would be about 3,000. Although they could have brought the entire army over (the amount of forces would be well over 10,000), the Guardians decided to keep the rest at Neo Arcadia for safety. They were only helping the Resistance, so they didn't need the whole army.

The sunlight and the light shining off of Harpuia's armor blinded the Reploforce soldiers. As if they were figures of Heaven floating down to Earth, The Guardians and the Neo Arcadian army rushed the Reploforce army.

With the saber's length, Harpuia was able to swipe a bundle of soldiers with one swing. However, he could only use one of the two because he had to use the other hand to hold on to Aztec Falcon. His legs were still injured, so he couldn't walk. Even if he could, the bulky armor he wore limited his physical movement.

Fefnir drove over any soldiers who weren't burned by his cannons. He plowed his way left and right across the battlefield.

Leviathan had the safest distance from the soldiers, standing on top of her giant metal serpent's head while it blasts soldiers with its Ice Breath. She made use of her advantage by twirling her trident around above her and, creating multiple ice tridents and having them rain down upon the soldiers below.

The three Guardians were enough to hold off many soldiers, but they could hold off the remainder of the Reploforce army alone.

The Neo Arcadian army had reploid soldiers on hover-bikes launching a full-frontal assault with beam sabers of their own. The hover-trucks were placed right in front of the Resistance soldiers, setting up the large plasma cannons as a defensive measure. The Pantheon Hammers, Hunters, and Hoppers charged in for a melee assault.

"Who called them in for help?" Max asked.

"Who knows and who cares? Let's go!" one of the Resistance soldiers said.

The remainder of the Resistance army charged in as well, being backed up by Neo Arcadia. Neither side thought they would be in the same battlefield on the same side. With the added force of the Neo Arcadian army, the Reploforce army was falling fast, losing many soldiers in a heartbeat.

As if the Reploforce army was waiting for Neo Arcadia, they began to bring in reinforcements. The Golems were actually carriers of mini-bombers. The mini-bombers were tiny jets built to explode upon physical contact of absolutely any kind. The Golems launched them to fly over the battlefield, having them try to bombard the Resistance base directly.

The forces on the ground couldn't shoot down all of the mini-bombers because they flew too high. The gun turrets near the base couldn't hit all of them if they got too close.

The mini-bombers caught Harpuia's eye. He knew he would be the only one who would be able to hold them off. The second he took his eyes off of the Reploforce soldiers around them, one of the soldiers who had a ranged weapon shot him in the face. The Guardian blinked and then a second later all of the soldiers pounced on him and Aztec Falcon. He tried to fight them off, but there were so many he could hardly move. Harpuia didn't like dog piles.

The Green Gladiator activated his armor's hidden function. One of the reasons Harpuia wore such thick armor was not only for protection, but there were more accessories inside. Two slits opened on his back and two large wings sprouted out. The wings were made of a fusion of jade and beam-resistant metal. The result was two wings laced with sharp metal-jade feathers. Many soldiers who had pounced on him were now cut severely.

Seeking to fly, he activated the mini-boosters hidden under the feathers and flapped his wings to fly up. Aztec Falcon remained on the ground, hacking away at the earth-bound soldiers.

Harpuia leveled with the incoming mini-bombers. With one mighty swing, he took out several fleets of mini-bombers, but many more came as soon as he destroyed them. _This is going to take a while._

Fefnir felt like he was in a combination of a monster truck rally and a barbeque. His Fefnir-Truck 5 rolled over charred Reploforce soldier bodies as if they were cars, the truck being the monster truck. However, he didn't notice that any soldiers who had ranged weapons were taking concentrated shots at Fefnir's truck. Each shot was shot in a specific place where the cannons were most likely to overheat. The Bellicose Bruiser didn't notice until a red light was blinking on and off on his control panel. Unfortunately, the red light would stop blinking when the cannons would cool off or the truck was about to explode. It was the latter.

The truck explode in a brilliant blaze of fire, incinerating all of the soldiers caught in the blast radius. While the flames lingered, Fefnir walked out of the flames with yet another of his wild contraptions. The large shoulder pads he wore before the battle hid parts to a protective armor. It was painted crimson and it looked more like an entirely different robot than a suit of armor. Fefnir's face was hidden under a protective gas mask, making Fefnir look like a fully armed arsonist, complete with dual flamethrowers.

The Bellicose Bruiser wasted no time to turn all enemies in his way into ashes as he shot streams of hot fire, much more powerful than his trucks flame cannons.

Leviathan felt quite comfortable riding on top of her serpent shooting ice tridents like arrows raining down on the soldiers. The serpent on the other hand did most of the work, slithering along the ground (crushing all of the soldiers in its way) and blasting the Reploforce armies with its Ice Breath. While on top she looked beyond the armies and still saw more soldiers coming.

_We would have destroyed 10,000 soldiers by now, so why do their forces continue to advance?_ Leviathan's thoughts were interrupted as a ballista bomb hit the side of the serpent's head. She nearly fell off but held onto the serpent. After recovering from the attack, she looked down and saw ballistae lining up to shoot more. _Perfect. Now they are starting to fight back…_

Zero lead some of the Resistance soldiers into the heat of the battle. They were all fighting on the front line until something caught Zero's eye. Above the armies he could see a Reploforce flag. He thought that the general of the army was the one near the flag, so he fought his way through to get closer. As the Maverick Hunter got close, a sudden burst of energy blew all the soldiers between him and the flag. When the smoke cleared, Zero saw that a reploid was riding in a carriage with the flag on top. The reploid leaped out.

The Reploforce general had white chest armor and black leg parts. The sleeves on his arms were also black, and he wore a cape that had the Reploforce symbol on the back. His head was protected with a helmet with the top resembling a colonel's hat.

Reploforce Army General

**Colonel**

Colonel stood silently staring at Zero.

Zero did the same.

Neither reploid paid any attention to the passing soldiers charging by; they only paid attention to each other.

"A century is quite a long time, isn't Zero?"

"I thought I retired you, Colonel."

The Reploforce General smirked. "I find it hard to rest in my grave until I have put you in yours, Zero."

"'Where there's Reploforce there's Colonel', I always say."

"It's been over 100 years since we've had our last fight." Colonel activated his red beam saber.

Zero nodded and activated his. "Looks like I'm going to have to give you 100 years worth of trouncing!"

"However you want to die, Zero."

And so, the 100-year rematch began.

The soldiers around them didn't bother to interfere, mainly because they couldn't due to the barrier the Reploforce flag set up, sealing anyone out of Zero and Colonel's duel. Zero didn't mind this at first, but then he remembered he had to help defend the Resistance.

_He's distracting me?_

The Legendary Maverick Hunter didn't have time to think before Colonel charged straight for Zero.

He also charged, ready to clash sabers, but as Colonel came closer he disappeared. Zero's eyes darted left and right, but then he remembered. Instinctively he put his Z-saber over his back as a shield, because Colonel attempted to attack Zero from behind.

"Your memory is somewhat slow." Colonel rose his saber again and attempted another slash.

Zero turned around completely and blocked the slash. He parried it away and then slashed horizontally. Colonel flipped his saber upside down and blocked the slash, then parrying it away to combo his slashes. Zero anticipated this and matched Colonel slash for slash, reading his moves perfectly. Colonel didn't seem to care. After a blinding barrage of slashes, the two finally clashed their sabers together. Energy bolts crackled as each reploid forced their sabers.

Colonel stared at Zero. The Blond Bomber smirked and forced the sabers upward, following up with another slash. Colonel deflected the slash and twirled his saber hilt-side-up and thrust it into Zero's stomach area. It knocked Zero back with enough force to make him hit the barrier. The Maverick Hunter collapsed on his knees and reached for his Z-buster, but he stopped. He felt inclined to only use his Z-saber and nothing else. He dashed towards Colonel with increased speed without the aid of different armors. The Blond Bomber dashed rolled while slashing. Colonel teleported ready to perform his trademark teleport slash. Zero, however, was ready for it. He stopped rolling and kept continuing the slash around him. This made sure Colonel wouldn't get a surprise hit in. The Reploforce General had to clash sabers with Zero again because his slash was blocked.

This time, the Blond Bomber tried to knee Colonel, bringing up right knee to knock him down. Colonel brought up his left knee to block it, then followed up with his right knee. Zero used his left knee to block. The Reploforce General smirked and kicked Zero off with his legs, causing both reploids to flip back and let go of their sabers. As the sabers flew up in the air, Zero and Colonel dashed in and started fighting hand-to-hand.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter threw a straight right punch. Colonel grabbed Zero's fist with his left hand and kneed Zero in the stomach. Then he threw a right hook at Zero's face. The blow sent Zero spinning in mid-air, but he kicked as he spun, hitting Colonel about three times. Colonel staggered back and Zero landed on the ground. The sabers that were in the air were on their way down.

Zero caught Colonel's saber.

Colonel caught Zero's saber.

They both positioned themselves.

The bombs kept pummeling Leviathan's serpent. There seemed to be more ballistae than before. To top it off, the soldiers seemed to be actually aiming for Leviathan. This annoyed her because instead of shooting ice tridents, she had to spend time blocking the shots. In the meantime, the serpent was getting pummeled by the bombs.

_This isn't good…_Leviathan knew the serpent wouldn't last long the many bombs being shot.

As soon as she thought about that, one more bomb found its way high enough to hit Leviathan. She was blown off of the serpent and she fell down. The serpent, however, was hit in the right spot and collapsed on one of the ballistae. Before the Bold Beauty would become a broken heap of fallen trash, she spun her trident as she fell. Right before she would fall, she struck the ground with her trident the ice spikes came up from the ground and impaled the soldiers. The strike softened her fall and his slid down the ice spikes. Leviathan twirled her trident and faced the soldiers on the ground.

_I never thought I'd get down and dirty with more than 3 people…_

Fefnir was having no trouble burning down the soldiers around him. Now the soldiers were ready to fight back. They drew their whips and wrapped him around, spinning in a circle. He was about to rip the whips, but the Reploforce soldiers activated the whips to send electrical shocks to Fefnir. His whole body was electrified with many, many bolts of electricity.

Before Fefnir could be shocked to a crisp, he retaliated by spinning around himself, throwing the soldiers out of their grips on the whips. Without the electric shocks, he ripped the whips and aimed his dual flamethrowers at the soldiers.

"Take this!"

The Bellicose Bruiser pulled the triggers. Only smoke came out.

"…"

He threw the flamethrowers at the soldiers and fought with his fists.

Harpuia was having trouble with the mini-bombers. He was looking back and forth from the mini-bombers and the defense line. With his guard down, one of the mini-bombers hit his legs. While they were still recovering from the last battle, he could feel his legs. Unfortunately, he could especially feel the pain.

He yelled out as the mini-bomber swarmed him and exploded on contact, hitting him several times. The Green Gladiator refused to fall, but he was taking severe damage. He tried to slash some away, but he could only do so much against so many.

Max helped hold the front line down. He shot down any soldiers who got past the cannons, but there weren't many. Suddenly, some soldiers started to slip by. He shot them down, but as they did they exploded with a large blast. While it didn't reach the trucks, they were getting awfully close.

_They got bombs or something?_

He was half-right: half of the soldiers trying to get through had mini bombs. As Max shot them down, one soldier with much armor tried to plow his way through. Max was determined not to let him pass, so he kept shooting charged laser shots with his pistol and spraying him with buster shots with his buster rifle. Each time his shots hit, it slowed him down, but he still kept charging. Max finally fired one last shot and it hit the soldier square in the head. His body began to fall back, just out of the blast range.

_Bull's eye!_

Another soldier who tried to rush in tripped and pushed the other soldier forward.

"Aw sh-" Max didn't get to finish because the one with the bigger bomb exploded, taking out the middle of the defense line. The Rookie was blown several feet back. The Reploforce soldiers started to rush in the middle.

Max got his bearings and stood up, twirled his pistol and loading his buster rifle. Ghost appeared next to Max.

"Where were you, man?" Max looked at Ghost.

"Around." Ghost unsheathed his katana. "We will have to fight up close and personal."

Max smirked. "Sure, why not?" He charged up his pistol. "I'm absolutely giddy!" He shot a charged shot and the duo rushed in.

Colonel swung the Z-saber. "Hmm, interesting."

Zero swung Colonel's saber. "I like mine better."

"Come get it then." Colonel teleported behind Zero.

"Same old, same old." Zero turned around and they clashed sabers. He noticed that the guardians were being overwhelmed.

They both forced their sabers, but this time Colonel forced the sabers upward since Zero was distracted. He lost grip of Colonel's saber. The Reploforce General caught it in mid-air. With his other hand occupied, he was unguarded. Zero kicked Colonel in the stomach and he let go of the Z-saber. Zero grabbed it when Colonel let go of it.

Colonel brought his saber down for another slash, but Zero jumped back. He slashed three times, sending slash waves in the process. Zero jumped over the first one, ducked under the second one, and then slashed away the third. Colonel teleported a few feet away from Zero. He raised the saber over his head and started charging it.

"Energy Breaker!"

He planted the saber in the ground and the energy flowed through the ground. Lightning came up from the ground.

The Blond Bomber had experience dodging bolts of lightning thanks to frequent duels with Harpuia, so this attack was no different. Just as the lightning came up from the ground, Zero rolled in a space between two bolts and readied himself for another wave or another attack. Colonel teleported behind Zero for an additional; attack, and once more he blocked it. The two reploids forced their sabers while charging them at the same time.

While one side of Zero was enjoying the duel, the other side was fixated on how the Resistance was holding up. Zero had just heard the explosion from the soldier that broke through the defense line.

Colonel took advantage of this opportunity and forced the sabers upward once more, but this time he wouldn't catch Zero's Z-saber. Before he could react, the Reploforce General thrust his saber into the Legendary Maverick Hunter.

Zero hung his jaw open, feeling too much pain to even yell.

"You let your guard down."

Colonel forced the saber farther in so that the opposite end of the saber stuck out from Zero's back.

"It seems that acting like a Maverick Hunter made you weaker, Zero. The Maverick I fought a century ago was not this weak."

Zero tried to say something, but all he could do was mouth what he tried to say: "I'm not a Maverick." Blood seeped out of his wound.

"Whether you decide to act like a Maverick Hunter or not, there is no doubt that you have weakness in you now. You will never beat me."

Colonel pulled his saber out quickly, causing Zero's body to fall back. Just as his body hit the ground, his Z-saber planted itself in the ground next to Colonel.

He picked up the Z-saber. "It's time to destroy the Legendary Maverick Hunter. No…the Legendary Maverick." The Reploforce General charged up both sabers for one finishing blow. He rose both sabers over his head.

"Die." He brought them both down to Zero's body.

Zero closed his eyes.

_I can't go on…_

_"Ciel asked me to give these to you. Seeing we are heading off to battle, she wants you to wear these for good luck charms."_

_"It's a start…"_

Zero rose right back up and blocked the incoming sabers using only his wrists…with the silver bracelets!

_The metal is resisting against the sabers…_

The bracelets were slowly melting, so he couldn't use them very long. With a swift kick he was able to send Colonel a few feet back. Upon getting kicked, he retaliated by slashing three times, each slash sending a wave.

With his useful bracelets, Zero slipped them onto his knuckles and punched away the three slash waves.

Colonel smirked and charged the sabers again.

Zero nodded and brought up his fists.

The two rushed towards each other, Colonel bring the two charged sabers down while Zero winded up his right fist and threw a straight right punch. The two forces created enough energy and speed to create a large explosion. It broke the invisible barrier around Colonel and Zero while sending dirt flying everywhere.

When the cloud of dirt faded, Zero was in a crouched position a few feet behind Colonel with his Z-saber in hand at the end-position of a slash attack.

Colonel was a few feet behind Zero frozen in a slash position as well, but he didn't have his saber.

"The best duel I've had…"

His saber was in the air, coming back down.

"…in 100 years. I've died happily with no regrets."

When the saber planted itself in the ground, Zero's attack sank in and the general of Reploforce split into two pieces, exploding in a brilliant flash of light.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter felt a flash of guilt for a split-second, then he felt his wound. He covered it with his hand, but it kept bleeding. His vision was beginning to fade, and the Reploforce soldiers were crowding around him, ready to attack. Although he tried to use his Z-saber to bring himself up, he crouched back down because of the tremendous pain he felt.

The Guardians were quickly losing ground, tired and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of soldiers left. The defense line had been nearly overrun completely. Max and Ghost were barely holding the front line, not to mention the Heavy Artillery.

Zero looked at the ground.

_This is it…_

A sudden flash of light blinded the soldiers. Zero looked up in the sky and saw the Dark Elf hovering over the battlefield. She looked like she was in pain.

Zero's eyes were wide open.

_No! This can't happen!_

_"Zero!" The Dark Elf cried and released a monstrous amount of energy, enough to decimate everything around her._

Zero blacked out.

**Change of scene**

_It's cold._

_"My Masterpiece…"_

_It's dark._

_"Destroy him! He is my nemesis!"_

_It's lonely._

_"Where's that red maverick that wiped out Garma's unit?"_

_It feels a bit warm…_

_"Hi! My name is X! Welcome to the Maverick Hunters!"_

_Is that a light?_

_"Stay here Iris! I'll handle it!"_

_No, not a light…_

_"Tell my sister that her brother died happily!"_

_Only a spot of lesser dark._

_"Then it's over…everything. Good-bye, Zero."_

_"WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR?"_

_"You will have to stop this war."_

_"Let's go, Zero!"_

_"You were a Maverick?"_

_"Back to the Beginning…"_

_The Beginning?_

_"Please…"_

_Now there is a light…_

_"Please Zero…"_

_It feels so warm…_

_"…protect me."_

_"Alright."_

_I'm fighting for you Ciel…_

_"Go back…"_

_For X…_

_"Go back to…"_

_For all Reploids and Humans…_

_"to the Beginning…"_

_The Beginning?_

_"The weapon is aimed at Earth. There's nothing you can do to stop it Zero…"_

_I just need to…_

**Change of scene**

**"WAKE UP!" Fefnir was shaking Zero by the neck.**

The Legendary Maverick Hunter woke up and pushed Fefnir off as a reflex. With his strength, Fefnir was sent flying into a wall.

"What happened?" Zero rubbed his eyes and looked around.

"Fefnir actually woke him up. And to think, I was about to give him CPR…" Leviathan was sitting on a chair in her normal armor.

Harpuia was leaning on the wall next to Fefnir's body. "That's the wrong thing to do in a situation like that. Zero doesn't need to breathe that way."

"Who said I was trying to make him breathe?" Leviathan winked.

Harpuia scoffed.

"Wait, what happened to the soldiers? Where's the Dark Elf? Where…"

"Relax, Zero. You're in the Repair Room of the Resistance Base. Nearly all of the soldiers on both sides were destroyed by the Dark Elf's sudden attack. She disappeared as quickly as she came."

"How many survivors?"

Harpuia looked away.

"I'm not sure exactly."

Zero looked down. "So many lives…"

"I suppose they were all sacrificed for something at least. Reploforce should be completely defeated by now. We've cleared them out of Neo Arcadia and defeated them here. I doubt they have anymore reserves left."

Zero was about to tell Harpuia something, but instead he said something else.

"Why did you guys help us?"

Harpuia chuckled. "Helped you? We didn't _help _you, we came and outright _rescued _you!"

"But why?"

"Think about it Zero. The last thing Neo Arcadia needs is to have an opposing side gain more resources." The Guardian looked away. "Don't think that we're on the same side."

Zero smirked.

"Don't you think it's kind of hard _not_ to think that? In case you hadn't noticed, Neo Arcadia and the Resistance were fighting side by side."

**Change of scene**

The remaining Neo Arcadian army recovered and were about to teleport back to Neo Arcadia. Most of the reploids soldiers were still alive while the majority of the drones were retired. The three Guardians had their regular armor on, since their battle armor was nearly destroyed in the last battle, being beyond repair.

Harpuia looked at Zero. "This would be a good time to attack you right now, with your side weakened…"

Zero smirked. "Don't even think about."

Alouette went up to the Guardians and gave each of them a hug as big as her body would let her. Leviathan had given her the necklace before she got ready to leave.

"Remember those moves I taught you, Alouette."

"I'll remember, Leviathan!"

"It's been fun, Zero." She blew a kiss and winked.

Ciel happened to be standing right next to Zero, but she didn't let Leviathan's kiss bother her.

"This doesn't change anything Zero. Currently this is a ceasefire."

"Whatever. Just go back to fixing up Neo Arcadia, Harpuia."

The Guardians and the army waved good-bye as they used their portable trans servers to teleport back to Neo Arcadia.

The rest of the Resistance army cheered and immediately wanted to celebrate their victory.

Ciel looked at Zero.

"We did it!" She threw her arms around him.

"Yeah, we did."

Zero hugged her.

"By the way…" She looked at Zero again.

"What did you do with my bracelets?"

On cue, Cerveau came holding two melted pieces of metal in his hands.

"Zero, I found these on your wrists…"

Ciel glared at Zero.

"Don't be mad! Those beam-resistant bracelets helped me fight! I mean they're only made of that certain metal…"

"No they aren't! They're made of rare and valuable metal-jewel fusion! It's nearly impossible to find more of it on Earth!"

A drop of sweat ran down Zero's face. He may have fought off the Reploforce army, but nothing could defend him against the onslaught of Ciel.

Author: Jesus Christ! I'm still cracking my fingers over this chapter! Well, I hope you all loved reading this as much as I loved typing this, but I am sorry to say that this fan fiction has officially ended.

Well, I _could _say that a couple of chapters later.

Read and review! Complimentary reviews and constructive critiques are welcome, but so are flames. The flames will help me eat the 41 grilled cheese sandwiches I'm making.

"The end? Don't bet on it."


	16. Race to the Final Weapon

-1Author: Hey readers! For those of you who noticed; yes, chapter 15 was not the end. I may be a first-time fanfic author, but believe me I know when to end a story. It may seem logical to end it right there, but…oh never mind. You'll see when you read these next chapters.

**About the reviews:** I'm glad a lot of people liked chapter 15. Yep, I threw in some LoTR references and others. That was the longest, largest battle scene ever, and I can say there won't be another action scene that intense. I'm not saying the final battle will be boring, I'm just saying don't expect it to involve over 10,000 characters. I'm glad you all liked it, and I'm sorry about making you think it was the end, because **it's not over.**

Well, after a year or so, we finally reach the last couple of chapters. That's right; this is the march towards the ending I had in mind since chapter 1. Enjoy.

_The Final Weapon_

**After having a victory over Reploforce, the Resistance humbly went back to its regular affairs. That is, after having a very large party the night they won.**

"This is great! Man, I don't see _why _we don't party like this all the time!" Max was enjoying himself thoroughly with some Resistance females and chatting to Dex at the same time, who surprisingly had no trouble getting himself in conversations with female 'ploids as well.

"The most logical reason would be that if we celebrated every time a mission had been successfully completed, there would be no Resistance Base left." Dex was about to fix his specs, but the girls cooing over him did it for him, then messed them up even more.

"Where is Zero anyway? He's missing out!"

"Highly probable that he's with Ciel. Other than that, I would be surprised if he had the energy left to celebrate."

As exhausted as he felt after taking on Reploforce, Zero did not object to celebrating with the Resistance. Every soldier and member of the Resistance enjoyed dancing and chatting. Bowls of Enerage and a few energy crystals decorated the tables as inviting party treats. Just about every member was on the dance floor or sitting on the tables. Even Alouette, who would be asleep by now, was talking to other Resistance members about her stuffed animal.

"It's nice how everyone is happy like this." Ciel stood next to Zero.

"It is, especially after everyone put their lives on the line." Zero sighed in relief. "I can say there won't be any interruptions during this celebration."

Ciel giggled. "Zero, I think for one night you need to relax completely." She smiled warmly.

Zero looked at Ciel, who seemed relaxed herself for quite a while. When she worked on her projects, her smiles were sometimes forced or feint. Now she truly felt the weight lifted off her shoulders. He was happy to see that.

"Well then, shall we dance?" Zero held out his hand. This time he wasn't saving Ciel from Neo Arcadian drones.

"Of course." Ciel took his hand as they celebrated the rest of the night with the Resistance.

**Change of scene**

The three Neo Arcadian Guardians threw the party while the rest of the soldiers had a fine party just resting. The Neo Arcadian government wasn't too happy about the Guardians' decision to help the Resistance, but Harpuia had convinced the Government, a board of five humans, that it was the right thing to do. Afterwards the Guardians decided to throw a small party in the Operations Room to celebrate their "victory," complete with bottles and bottles of Enerage.

Fefnir was the first one to open the first bottle.

"Bottoms up!"

Leviathan poured her Enerage in a glass. "I think we should make a toast."

Harpuia casually opened a bottle. Usually he would never drink, mainly because he hadn't quite acquired the taste of Enerage. This time, he felt that one night of drinking wouldn't hurt.

"You two honestly shouldn't have to make a toast to me…"

Leviathan shook her head. "Not to you, Harpuia, to _us._"

"Yeah! Somebody has to congratulate me on how I kicked so much ass."

"Not exactly the reason Fefnir…the toast is to us for beating our enemy."

"But we didn't beat the Resistance…"

"Not the Resistance, _Reploforce._"

"I'm surprised you still think the Resistance is the enemy after we've fought alongside them."

Fefnir raised a brow. "I didn't really mean it that way, I just mean that weren't they our enemies in the first place? The truce is over, isn't it?"

Harpuia rubbed his chin. "Honestly I don't know. I don't see a reason to attack them anymore. They've helped us."

Leviathan nodded. "That's true."

The three all thought for a moment. "The Government doesn't seem to think so…it still thinks that the Resistance is made of a bunch of Mavericks and a foolish human girl." Leviathan's tone changed on the word "Mavericks."

"I suppose they haven't seen what we have been through." Harpuia shook his head. "Before I thought there was a real reason to attack the Resistance, but after what has happened…"

Fefnir put his arms around his fellow Guardians. "How about we party like crazy tonight, and talk about this tomorrow morning?"

Leviathan smiled. "I think that's a great idea."

Harpuia smirked. "We do need a well-deserved rest."

They all touched glasses and bottles together.

"Cheers!" They all said in unison as they gulped their drinks down.

**Change of scene**

Zero threw confetti in the air. As it fell down, he reached for a napkin next to the half-eaten cake. His hand knocked over a half-full cup of punch and an empty bottle of Enerage. When he grabbed his napkin, he wiped off the cake stains, punch stains, Enerage stains and lipstick.

_At least now I know what "Kiss the Bottle" is._

The Resistance had finished throwing a huge party to celebrate their victory. It lasted for hours with everybody talking, drinking, more talking and excessive amounts of sucking each other's faces in with or without permission of an empty Enerage bottle (They had tried it with a full bottle of Enerage, but everybody's breath smelled too strong to continue playing). Zero was caught in the same circle as Ciel was, and every time he would try to spin it towards Ciel. Half the time he was successful. The other half he either got other female reploids or had to kiss the male reploids. Since they were punch-drunk with Enerage, they easily mistaken Zero's mane for a _female _reploid's hair. Their eagerness sky-rocketed every time Zero had to kiss a guy. Those were the worst 5 seconds of Zero's life.

_Hopefully everybody -including me- will get a huge hangover and forget what happened._

For the first time in many, many years, the members of the Resistance Base partied like college kids on a one-year vacation.

Resting in his room, Zero wiped off one last lipstick mark under his chin. As he did, he remembered that it didn't come from a female reploid…

**Change of scene**

"What in the _hell_ happened last night?"

Harpuia woke up on his bed, which had been littered with Enerage bottles and smelled like Fefnir on a Friday night. Some of the bottles had not been fully emptied and caused some wet stains on the bed. Sighing deeply, he readied himself to get out of his bed and clean up the mess, but he quickly realized -quick enough for the bed sheets not to slip- that he was naked; he wasn't wearing his bodysuit or his armor.

Next to his bed was a blue trident and a cool blue bra that belonged to Leviathan. They had been carelessly dropped onto the floor as if someone just threw them away.

"Oh crap…what did I _do_?"

He turned to his other side and saw someone sleeping underneath the bed sheets. Regretting what was about to come, he pulled up the bed sheets.

"Leviathan?"

Fefnir turned over and started to wake up.

"I told you…we can do it later…" He started rubbing his eyes and yawned, sitting upright.

"Mornin' Harp." Fefnir scratched his arms, belly, and his crotch, also realizing he didn't have any armor on or anything else that would hide his bare body.

It took him about 3 seconds to figure out that Harpuia was in the same bed as he was, and that he was naked as well.

Leviathan woke up in her room to two very loud yells.

**Change of scene**

"Wake up, Zero."

The Maverick Hunter woke up next to Ciel, who was shaking him gently.

"Ciel…isn't your room next door?" He didn't sound neither surprised nor startled.

"I think I may have locked myself out…I'll have to ask Cerveau or Sam ro inspect the lock."

"Well that's fine." Zero sat upright. "I think it's safe to say that we're getting much closer to your goal, Ciel."

Ciel beamed. "Yes, I hope so! If the Neo Arcadian Guardians were ready to come help us, I think we can truly negotiate this energy crisis out. Especially with my invention nearly completed…but…"

She looked at Zero with more serious concern this time.

"How are your memories coming along?"

Zero looked at the ceiling. "To be honest Ciel, they're coming faster than ever. The recent missions I've been on…after what's happened…I'm starting to remember things more clearly. There are some things that I know but don't remember…"

Flashes of his recent missions went through his mind.

"Names of people I remember but haven't met, or people I _should _have met…even recalling moments that never once crossed my mind. Ciel, I can _almost _remember everything. It's just hazy when I try to recall my memories…it's almost like I'm incapable of remembering them completely…"

Zero closed his eyes. "The harder I try, the hazier the memories get…but the voices get louder…"

_"The weapon is aimed at Earth. There's nothing you can do to stop it Zero…"_

_The weapon? What is the "weapon?"…Could it be…?_

Zero opened his eyes, which had lost the lax feeling he had last night, and now had the same hardness when he was ready to fight.

"I guess this isn't over…"

A voice in his head had mentioned a weapon. Zero knew exactly what it was.

"The Final Weapon."

"Zero?"

"I was wrong. Ciel, this isn't over. I think it's far from it. Reploforce has something else planned!"

_How could have I forgotten? How could I have overlooked the Final Weapon? How in the midst of the battle could I forget the one thing that Reploforce was trying to build to wipe out all organic things on the planet? The last time I had checked the plans the one thing that had been missing was the Dark Elf, since they never confirmed that they had it. The other was the container, but it turned out to be a sandwich box. With the Reploforce army flattened, they couldn't possibly still be working on the Final Weapon, could they?_

"That's right…the Final Weapon. But, the container for the Dark Elf wasn't anything significant. How could they use the Final Weapon if they don't have the container? Zero…something doesn't add up." She looked at him with great concern.

"I don't know either, but…"

The alarm went off.

"…I think I know who might have a clue." Zero got off his bed and headed straight for the Operations Room. Ciel quickly followed behind him, after getting her usual gear on.

When he entered the room, most of the Resistance members were gathered in the center.

"What's going on?" Zero walked over to them.

"We felt something odd. The source seemed to be here but…" One of the Resistance members shrugged.

Zero began to feel it too, but he knew exactly what it was.

X hovered down next to Zero.

"Long time no see, X." If X had a body, Zero would have given him a warrior's welcoming hug.

"I'm sorry, Zero. I didn't come here for a visit."

"Knowing you nowadays, you never really do."

"I guess you got me there."

Zero laughed.

"I came here because there's a problem, a _big _one."

Immediately one of the Operators said, "There's a massive reading! It seems to be coming all the way from outer space!"

Ciel said, "It must be the Final Weapon."

Everyone turned around to catch what she had just said.

"I don't know why it would be built now…didn't we just destroy Reploforce?"

Dex fixed his glasses. "More importantly, they don't even have the Dark Elf to power the weapon…or do they?"

Zero cracked his knuckles. "Then I guess I'd better go up there and shut down Reploforce for good."

One of the Operators shook their heads. "We can't trans you over there; it's too far away."

"Then how am I supposed to get there?"

X said, "Take a shuttle."

Everyone turned to X. "We don't have a shuttle…" Cerveau said.

"I know where one is. It's old, but I believe it's still working."

"Then what are we waiting for, X? Let's go there!" Zero turned to the Operators.

"Wait, Zero. I have to give the Operators the coordinates first." X mentally sent the coordinates to the Operators' minds.

"Here we go. Everyone stand clear."

The alarm blared as the two Legendary Maverick Hunters were ready to disembark.

Ciel pleaded, "Zero, please don't die…"

Zero smirked. "I'll think about it."

He gave a thumbs-up gesture as the bright light enveloped Zero and X. In a second they both disappeared.

**Change of scene**

"Here we are."

X and Zero stood in front of the old Maverick Hunter Base. The main building had been nearly totaled. In its ramshackle condition Zero was surprised it didn't completely collapse. The rest of the area around them was total desert.

"Where's the entrance?" Zero looked around, shielding his eyes from the sand desert wind.

"You don't remember?" X hovered and led him to an opening that wasn't totaled.

Zero walked into the entrance and found him inside the old Maverick Hunter Base.

He was inside the hallway which had originally lead to many different rooms, and there were many different doors. Now, parts of the ceiling had caved in and only a few doors were left to go through. Zero gingerly walked to one of the doors; the last thing he needed was to have the entire ceiling cave on him.

"Zero, this door." X hovered to the door across from the one Zero was in.

He walked over to the door X was next to and carefully opened it. When he walked in, Zero found that the room was the shuttle room. He knew because there was a large, tall shuttle plainly in sight. The paintjob had worn off for quite a while, but it was mostly a faded white. Everything else was there; the ship, the rockets, and even the holding bay. There was already large opening above the entire room.

"So this has just been sitting here for all of these years?"

"I don't know, Zero. I just recently found our old base."

Zero walked up to the shuttle and felt the paintjob. "I think this isn't the first time I had to take a shuttle to space.

**"**That's right Zero, you took a shuttle much like this one and crashed it into Eurasia, a colony ready to crash down to Earth."

"What happened after that?"

"You succeeded in taking out Eurasia, but…" X's voice trailed off.

"I guess that's best left to be explained another time." Zero smirked. "So, how do we get this thing up and running?"

X hovered above Zero's head. "I think the control room is at the top floor of the holding bay."

Zero looked over to the holding bay. There was an elevator that lead to the upper levels. It was supported and moved by a lift attached to the side of the elevator.

He opened the elevator doors with a push of a button and walked right in. There were five different buttons for the five different floors. Zero pressed the highest button, wanting to go to the highest floor. As the doors closed, X hovered inside. The elevator woke up with a jolt of movement, and then it started going up.

"So all we have to do is start the launch countdown and head to the shuttle, right?"

"Yes. As soon as the countdown starts, hurry to the shuttle. The entrance to the cockpit is one floor below the control room. You will only have ten seconds, so be very quick, Zero."

Zero chuckled. "Come on, X. You think I can't take an elevator up and down one floor in ten seconds?"

The elevator came to a stop, but it wasn't on the fifth floor. The elevator had stopped on the fourth floor, where the entrance to the cockpit was. When the doors opened, a reploid was standing a few feet away from the entrance.

The reploid had a helmet on with a purple visor. His hair was white, and some of it cascaded down from his helmet. His mouth wasn't covered, and the rest of his armor was black.

Reploforce Dynamic Officer

**Dynamo**

"Heh, long time no see, buddy."

Zero quickly remembered who he was. "Dynamo!"

"Wow, I figured you would have forgotten me after, like what, 100 years?"

"How can I forget trouncing you left and right, Dynamo?" Zero smirked.

Dynamo said angrily, "You may have beaten me before, but now you're just an old relic!"

He flipped his hair and regained his cocky coolness.

"Sorry, Zero. I can't let you get on this shuttle." He pointed to the Reploforce badge on his left pectoral area.

"It's nice to know that Reploforce is still active…" Zero stepped out of the elevator. "That way I could stop you for good!"

"Come on and fight me!"

Zero stood in a defensive position. _I don't have time for this…_

"You better go and start the countdown, X."

"Are you sure, Zero?"

"Just give me a minute or two."

Dynamo laughed. "You'll need more than that to beat me!"

"Be careful, Zero."

X ignored the elevator and flew to the top floor.

Zero activated his Z-saber.

Dynamo activated his saber. He tilted it horizontally and then another beam came out from the opposite side.

_Shit._

Dynamo rushed in and twirled the D-saber (double-sided saber or "Dynamo-saber") over his head. When he came in striking range, the Dynamite slashed diagonally with one side.

Zero quickly parried the predictable blow, but as he did Dynamo slashed upward with the other side of his saber. He rolled to the side before the attack could land. As he did, Dynamo kept spinning and slashing as he advanced towards Zero, forcing the Maverick Hunter to parry and roll again and again.

The Blond Bomber knew he had to take on the offensive. While Dynamo was still spinning, he clashed his Z-saber with one side of the D-saber. He locked the two blades together, and then pushed Dynamo back. With the sudden opening, Zero rushed in and vertically slashed.

The white-haired reploid quickly regained his balance and used the right side of his D-saber to reverse the vertical slash back up and continued on, spinning around with his back to Zero. With the other side of the saber, he swung for Zero's legs. The red reploid brought his saber down in an arc and blocked Dynamo's attempted slash. Just as soon as the sabers made contact, Dynamo switched directions and used the right side of his D-saber for another low slash. And yet again, Zero blocked it.

He thought the attack had ended, but Dynamo finished it with a swift kick to Zero's stomach area. The Maverick Hunter didn't see that one coming, and the result was a drag along the floor. The kick had sent him a fairly far distance, and he was only a few feet away from the door to the cockpit. Zero lifted himself back up to face Dynamo once more.

Dynamo smirked and twirled his D-saber. He drew it back and threw it at Zero. It spun in such an incredibly high speed that it seemed as if he threw a disc. Zero was in a horrible position to dodge, so he either had to stop the attack or redirect it. He gripped his Z-saber and made his move.

Although the D-saber spun fast, Zero's eyes caught the center. He raised his Z-saber over his head. Just as the D-saber came into striking range, he brought his saber down and split the D-saber smack-dab in the middle. The two beams flew past the left and right sides of his head, barely making any contact.

Zero tried to catch Dynamo's reaction after destroying his saber, but all Dynamo did was smile as he drew two more D-sabers and activated them.

"Damn it."

Without a moment's waste, Dynamo threw both sabers at Zero.

Realizing Dynamo wouldn't have anymore weapons after his attack, Zero dashed towards Dynamo. As both sabers flew to him, he somersaulted over both of them as they tried to come across paths with him. The two sabers crossed in an X-shape, but Zero's somersault reached higher than both of those sabers. He descended towards Dynamo, and he switched his Z-saber for his All-purpose Rod, which he parted into the Recoil Rod. At the last flip, and pointed the two beam ends downward so they would be the first thing to strike Dynamo.

His assumption was incorrect, however. After Dynamo had thrown both of his D-sabers, he drew a third D-saber when Zero had somersaulted. With precise timing, the white-haired reploid used both sides of the D-saber to block both ends from Zero's Recoil Rod.

Although the attack was stopped, Zero's feet touched the ground. The right leg that touched the ground went from a standing position to a low sweep as Zero tried to catch Dynamo off of his defense. He used his left foot to maintain balance. Whether he was caught by surprise or he was careless, the white-haired reploid tripped over Zero's leg and started to fall back.

It would seem as if Dynamo was in a position to be attacked, but Zero knew better. He could read his body, and he knew that Dynamo would be just as responsive in mid-air as he was on the ground. If he were to try to follow up with another slash, Dynamo would most likely retaliate with three attacks. Not allowing himself to fall into this trap, Zero forced Dynamo further back by swinging the two parts of his Recoil Rod outward.

The Dynamite effortlessly back-flipped away from Zero and landed on his feet. He looked at him and smirked.

Zero didn't know why he was smiling until he heard two hums behind him getting louder.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter used one leg to balance himself as he spun around while falling toward Dynamo. As he looked up, the two D-sabers Dynamo had thrown nearly sliced him, but he bent back low enough for the sabers to miss, although the margin was as wide as the width of a sheet of paper. Just as the sabers passed him, he brought the leg he didn't use to balance all the way up. With one hand he drew the Z-buster from the hoister on the leg he brought up. Aiming while falling backwards upside down, he fired multiple buster shots at Dynamo.

The white-haired reploid stood still as the D-sabers swirled around his body, acting as a shield to deflect the buster shots away.

With one part of the Recoil Rod in his left hand, Zero used it to balance himself and get back up. He put the Z-buster back into his hoister and picked up the other part he dropped.

Wanting to finish this, Zero ran towards Dynamo with both parts of the Recoil Rod ready.

Dynamo twirled his D-saber and braced himself for Zero's attack not running at all. He didn't need to move at all, because the two D-sabers that were spinning around him now had a new target: Zero. They streaked towards him trying to slice him once more.

Thinking quickly, Zero leaped forward and changed his leap into a slide, trying to make it under the two D-sabers heading for him. The direction of the sabers was a diagonal slope going down, so Zero would only have a slim margin to make it under before they would hit him. He changed into Active form in the middle of his slide and turned his slide into a rolling slash, using the added force from the roll to knock the D-sabers away as they came to him.

With a high jump Dynamo avoided Zero's attack. The Blond Bomber kept on rolling until he stopped inside the elevator.

The moment Dynamo landed he dashed into the elevator and swung with a horizontal slash. Both sides missed Zero as he ducked under the attack, but one of the sides found its way to the button panel in the elevator. It planted itself in the button panel and hit the button to close the doors and go down. As the elevator doors closed, the two D-sabers flew between the cracks and swirled around Dynamo once more.

The inside of the elevator was a very tight space; only about five feet separated the two reploids, so there was hardly any room to maneuver. This was bad for Zero, and he had double duty fighting Dynamo _and _avoiding the D-sabers flying around the elevator trying to slice him.

Feigning a high attack, Zero thrust both parts of the Recoil Rod towards Dynamo's face. The two D-sabers responded and flew to Zero at a high range. Anticipating this, Zero shifted his foot and pushed back with it while he fell forward (a flawed one-foot moonwalk). Since he fell forward, the two D-sabers missed because they aimed for Zero's head, which was under them by the time they were supposed to make contact with the Maverick Hunter.

As he fell, he drew back his arms and went for another thrust for Dynamo's stomach area.

Somewhat taken by surprise, his reaction time dragged a bit as he barely twirled the D-saber he held to parry Zero's attack. Dynamo's parry sent Zero spinning in the air as both sides of the D-saber Dynamo held struck the parts of the Recoil Rod up. While Zero was spinning in mid-air, the D-sabers that were flying around came for another attack, but the Blond Bomber used his current situation to his advantage and knocked the D-sabers away.

With the added force of the spin, the D-sabers were knocked away wildly. One was knocked into the button panel. Electricity sparked out of the panel; it wouldn't be long before it exploded. The other found its way to the lift of the elevator and sliced it since it was in its way. The elevator wasn't supported by the lift anymore, so it lost control and streaked down on its collision course with the ground floor.

This caused both reploids to fall upward due to the free-falling elevator. Before they could get the top, they both turned upside-down standing on the elevator "floor." It wouldn't be long before the elevator would hit the ground. Knowing this, Dynamo used one side of his D-saber to make an opening and jump out. Trying to stop him, Zero thrust both parts of the Recoil Rod at Dynamo, but he was too quick. The white-haired reploid kicked a hole open and fell out before the Recoil Rod could make contact.

Zero looked through the opening. The air rushed out and blew his mane in his face. He batted it away only to catch a glimpse of Dynamo waving as the elevator fell down closer and closer to the bottom. The Legendary Maverick Hunter looked at the floor meter. He was already on the second floor! Only one more floor to go and then after that he would hit rock bottom. With his quick thinking, Zero started to charge his Recoil Rod. He braced himself and got ready to jump out of the opening.

They Recoil Rod was halfway charged when the meter hit the first floor.

_Got to time this right…_

Even through the screeching noise of the lift and the loud vacuum of the air rushing out of the elevator, Zero heard two familiar hums. Looking through the opening, he saw that the two D-sabers were flying fast enough to catch up with him, advancing towards him.

_Now I _really _have to time this right…_

Relying on his mechanical gut alone, he jumped through the opening and spun in mid-air during his jump. He held the two parts of the Recoil Rod out in opposite directions. His timing was precisely on the mark, the moment one of the parts of the Recoil Rod was aimed at the falling elevator, the elevator had hit the ground and exploded. Just as the explosion reached Zero, he released the now fully-charged Recoil Rod's energy at the wave of the explosion. The force of the charged part of the Recoil Rod and the added "spring" of the explosion sent him flying upward, faster than the explosion! Simultaneously with the other end he kept charging it, but knocked away the two D-sabers.

During all of this time Dynamo had casually free-fallen ever since he jumped out of the opening. He was relaxed until he saw the explosion. More importantly, he saw Zero flying right towards him! Caught off-guard, he tried to activate his D-saber in time to try to attack Zero.

The Blond Bomber was flying too quick and came within striking range by the time Dynamo thought of getting his D-saber. With both parts of the Recoil Rod, he swung them outward without releasing the other charged part. Although Zero was quicker than Dynamo in attacking, the white-haired reploid mid-air dodged the attack, but his D-saber was caught in the attack and was split in half.

The Legendary Maverick hunter kept flying upward as the explosion was catching up. Dynamo was sent spinning after Zero's attack. As he spun, Dynamo saw that the explosion was about to engulf him up. He timed his spin so that his back was facing the explosion about only a few feet away. At the same time, the two D-sabers were still flying after Zero, but were about to pass Dynamo. He held his arms out and precisely caught his own D-sabers while he was still spinning. With his right leg, the Dynamite thrust it towards the explosion and actually _kicked off _of the explosion, using it as a trampoline. His foot-work was so fast that his boot wasn't even burnt! After he kicked off, he jumped to the wall and ran with a furiously faster speed than the explosion.

Zero reached the peak of his jump. He turned around to see if Dynamo had been engulfed by the explosion, but was rather surprised that he was running _ahead_ of the explosion! He had one more part of the Recoil Rod to charge, but since he was in the center and not near a wall, he couldn't find a way to attack Dynamo without having to be burned by the explosion. He quickly looked to his right and noticed two closed elevator doors. Already hatching a plan, he got the other part of the Recoil Rod ready.

The Dynamite ran up the wall like a streaking bullet as he prepared to jump to Zero and perform an aerial-attack. He kept running all the way until he was stepping right on the elevator doors. The Blond Bomber saw this and aimed the charged part of the Recoil Rod at the opposite side. He released the energy and the push shot Zero straight into Dynamo at a fast enough speed for the white-haired reploid to be unable to counter. As soon as Zero made the bone-crushing impact, the two reploids broke through the elevator doors and rolled along the ground. The fire from the explosion shot out of the elevator doors, but Zero and Dynamo were ducking under it.

When the flames went out, the two reploids got up, ready to fight. However, they didn't notice that the cable that held the platform had been burnt. It snapped, and the supporting cables could only hold the platform for a few seconds before the entire thing would fall. Zero looked behind him and realized he was on the fourth floor. With the platform collapsing, he didn't bother with Dynamo. He knew he had to get on that shuttle!

"T-minus 10...9...8...7..."The speakers were counting the launch already!

_Great timing X…_

The Legendary Maverick Hunter dashed towards the shuttle. Just as the platform began to fall, Zero took a leap of faith.

"6...5...4..."

He didn't know if his jump would make the distance.

"3...2...1..."

Just as he came within range, Zero stuck out his Recoil Rod and latched onto the side of the shuttle. Not far behind him, Dynamo also dashed towards the shuttle and leaped onto it.

With a thunderous boom, the engines kick-started and the flames from the rockets swallowed up the bottom floors as the shuttle made its slow ascent. The white-haired reploid used his D-saber as a latch, but for steps, the two D-sabers began to swirl over to his direction. One of them planted itself in the shuttle. He jumped onto it, using the hilt as a step. Just as soon as he landed on it, the other D-saber planted itself into the shuttle farther up, and again Dynamo jumped on the hilt. The D-sabers repeatedly came in and out of the ship, and Dynamo repeatedly jumped onto his "steps," getting closer and closer to Zero.

Now the rockets woke up completely, and the shuttle began to lift up from the ground. Zero was in no position to stage an attack, hanging on for his dear life by his Recoil Rod. He reached for his Z-buster with one hand, but Dynamo was getting closer and closer by the second. He wouldn't have enough time to charge it up fully. Taking his chances, he aimed the Z-buster at Dynamo and began to charge it.

Dynamo came within striking range at last, but just as he was about to attack Zero, X hovered in between the two and released a blast of blue energy.

The blast took the Dynamite by surprise, and he was stunned, but he held on to his D-saber planted in the shuttle. The other D-sabers were also hit by X's attack, falling lifelessly to the ground far below. Now Zero had a fully charged blast ready.

He aimed the Z-buster at Dynamo.

"You lose."

He pulled the trigger.

"Again."

The charged blast hit Dynamo right on his face, shattering his helmet and visor. The force of the blast knocked him out of his grip, and he fell into the raging flames of the rockets far below.

Author: Well, looks like the story is going to be a bit longer than I originally planned, since I am making changes to the ending. I've tried and tried again to get this chapter finished, so I hope that everyone who used to read this makes it to see the ending, and I hope that any new readers enjoy the story thus far. Read and review guys! I _will _finish this story!


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